“Raymond John Westraadt.
A Port Elizabeth-based artist, Westraadt has been honing his craft for more than 10 years.
His choice of medium is oil paint on canvas and he delights in turning his attention to neglected objects, inviting his viewer to imbue these objects with their own stories and imagined memories.
South End, Port Elizabeth (up to 1969) was my birthplace and the systematic destruction of this neighbourhood in the name of progress has a great influence on the way I work and the images I produce.
My way of protesting this action is to try and stimulate a remembrance, the conscience thoughts of people by exposing them to that which looks and feels familiar, that which we grew up with – the old way of life when things seemed simpler.
The buildings I paint reflect an attitude rather than an image, abandonment and despair, but with reference to hope albeit only in our minds-eye. The starkness of the buildings in a desolate background will serve as an intense focus on the story behind the lives that drifted through these buildings and not so much the building itself. Although the buildings are devoid of life, the observer is left to draw their own conclusions as to the many stories that the image may evoke in them.
The images may have been born out of my intense appreciation of Surrealism, but the approach adopted by artists such as Edward Hopper wherein discourse constantly nags at the subconscious is a constant driving force in my work.”
~ Raymond John Westraadt
Details of prize: 1m x 1.5m oil on canvas called “Reflective Study – Dubai”
