Diane Victor
by Tracey-Louise Edwards
Diane Victor is one of the best known names on the South African art scene. She is arguably one of South Africa's most prolific art producers and her style is unquestionably unique. With the release of David Krut Publishing's TAXI 013 - Diane Victor, her name seems set to become a household phenomenon.
With such a definitive massing of her art, ArtTrob set out to explore some of the broader characteristics evident in her work.
Tracey Edwards: Do you believe you have a signature style?
Diane Victor: I find the term signature style, in itself, relatively problematic so I don't want to say I have a signature style but rather that my work is recognisable through the combination of subject matter, my attitude or approach to that subject matter, or technical idiosyncrasies, be it mark-making or medium. You can say everyone has their own stylistic peculiarities. Who doesn't? But if you're asking if it's my intention to create one, then definitely not.
TE: Can you describe your personal style then? What makes it unique?
DV: I think it may be the way that I draw, or perhaps my interest in certain qualities of the human body - but everyone has there own distinctive approach. If anything it's that I tend to work from my head and use my own body as a reference- which often tends to be a little limiting at times.
TE: In the past your art has been criticised as too narrative and figurative, something that Cara Snyman (Art Times, volume 2 Issue 8) picks up on in her recent description of your art for the Taxi 013 publication. Any comment?
DV: It's a valid criticism. I think the work has become less narrative, but definitely that's who I am and I'm not likely to change after all this time to cater for any art market. So yes, my work will always will be narrative because my interest is in the human condition, bodies, headspaces, the way people interact and damage one another. The narrative and figurative elements are firmly bound to that world.
I've also been criticised for putting too much into my work, but this is bound in some ways to my work process, (which is rather obsessive) characterised by my obsession. I tend to be obsessive with the process of making the work. Definitely that's often read as being too 'illustrative'.
TE: Who then influences your art?
DV: Whoever buys it � [laughing]. No. Who influences it? Haven't a clue. I think the people that I interact with on a daily basis often become the subjects of my work. I don't make work for people but rather about people. Also, social issues, things that unsettle and anger me, be it an individual or an incident- information gleaned from the news, media, information related by friends and associates - I suppose what influences much of my work is what disturbs me strongly enough to react to it.
TE: Your subject matter - saints, nudes, portraiture and even your choice of medium, printmaking - brings to mind the older masters like Titian and Vermeer. Do you believe their influence plays a pivotal role in your style?
DV: Ja, they do. They certainly did. As a student that's where my interest lay. When everyone else was looking at contemporary work I was looking at Durer, Michelangelo and others. It has never been a conscious decision, but that is what works for me. The obsessive technical and observational component to their work is a big thing. Most of my drawing is about trying to understand a shoulder or a foot� it's almost a visual attempt to understand the world around me and the people in it. For that reason, as a student, when I was exposed to early Northern European work, their technical expertise and obsessive observation of everything around them - it blew my mind!
TE: Can you explain the interest you have in drawing and etching as preferred media?
DV: Exactly the answer above. Etching, for me, is a lot about detail. I have to understand the structure of something to be able to draw it. It's not only about the luxury to be able to include obsessive detail, but also about getting the graphic process to collaborate, which in itself demands another level of technical obsession about the surface detail and then getting the process right.
Drawing was more about the direct discipline of looking. Either you get it right or it tells you and the whole world rather bluntly that you're dead meat. It's a way to focus myself, force me to discipline myself. If you draw badly it screams and shouts. It's a controlled disciplined process that I use on myself. You either get it right or not. There's no cop-out ,whereas I feel one can get away with murder in media like smoke drawings and ink.
TE: How do you see your style as having developed over the years?
DV: Hopefully I've learnt to be less visibly illustrative. The work's cleaner, more focused as opposed to all over the place. I think I've tempered my obsession with details and, thankfully, my need to try and record all of the little details has diminished. I am more interested in the formal aspects of the work.
TE: Do you think the style of your work has contributed to your success as an artist?
DV: Probably not. It has probably gone against it actually. I can't really say because I've never worked in any other way. I think my ability to draw is, technically, relatively proficient, so initially I survived by people buying my work because it was clearly readable. But I think I have a specific approach to the subjects I draw, combined with a technical 'style' to make the work recognisable and distinguish it from others who work in a similar medium.
TE: Finally, do you have a personal favourite work of your own?
DV: I like little pieces of several works rather than one whole work. Maybe a corner here or a hand there, but no, there's no work I would want to live with and I'm generally happy if I never have to see them again. I'm visually rather critical of what I make and can never stop seeing what I'm unsatisfied with in an image.
Tracey-Louise Edwards is a freelance writer and works as a curator at the Thompson Gallery in Melville, Johannesburg
