STEPHANIE BESTER

Stephanie Francis Bester was born in 1955; grew up and studied in Pretoria. In 1977, she married Paul, a medical doctor. Between 1977 and 2000 she worked as a nursing sister in various hospitals and private practices within South Africa. From 2003 until 2005, she lectured in the Fine Art Department, Buffalo City College, East London, South Africa. At present she works and lives on the beautiful Wild Coast with its unspoilt beaches between East London and Umtata. I employ the relationship between people, animals, the land and the interconnectedness of all as subject matter. I am inspired by people, animals, nature and especially relationships. The way humans interact with one another, their environment, including animals.

My artworks become visual metaphors of the conscience - not as solutions, but as visual statements that could alter socially and personally constructed perceptions. I perceive my artworks as a personal response to the many theoretical, environmental and spiritual issues explored. My intention is to depict the fragility of Being within a world devoid of a serene human destiny. A world marked by a fragile and an imperceptible equilibrium that does not belong to Man. Greed, narcissism and the stereo-typification of social behaviour in-terms-of gender have destroyed the interconnectedness between homo-sapiens and between people, the animal and plant world. At the same time, commercialism appears to offer “false” securities to the detriment of individuality.