Pamela Stretton
South African artist (born 1980)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pamela Stretton (born 1980) is a South African artist whose work deals predominantly with the female body.[1] Her main medium is digital inkjet prints that combine text and photographs. Originally from Cape Town, South Africa, Stretton moved to the United Kingdom.[1][2]
Pamela Stretton | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1980 |
| Alma mater | Rhodes University University of Cape Town |
| Awards | Sanlam Vuleka 2005 |
| Website | www |
Stretton attended Kingswood College, Grahamstown and Queenstown Girls High School.[3]
She received a Bachelor of Fine Art (with distinction) from Rhodes University in 2002 and a Master of Fine Art (with distinction) from the University of Cape Town in 2005.[3][1]
Career
Stretton's work deals predominantly with the female form and its commodification, beautification, and role in popular culture.[1][2] Most of her works are digital inkjet prints that combine photographic images and text; they are composites of barcodes, labels, and advertisements that create a larger image of the female form. The pieces are largely autobiographical, but also carry general themes about popular culture, fashion, health, and food.[3][2] The painstaking and meticulous creation of each piece references obsessive eating disorders.[4] Similarly, the grid mechanism portrays the pressures of conformity.[5] Her style has been called a female version of Chuck Close.[6]
Awards and honors
Stretton was a finalist for the Absa L'Atelier Art Competition in 2003, 2006 and 2007.[3][1] In 2005, she won the Sanlam Vuleka Art Competition and was a finalist for the Brett Kebble Art Awards.[3] The Vuleka was established in 1963 and is Southern Africa's oldest continuous art competition.[7]
She was also a finalist for the inaugural Spier Contemporary Competition and Exhibition in 2007, which Smithsonian Libraries describes as juried.[8][1] The Spier Contemporary was a national biennale competition and exhibit for visual artists and was the largest competition of its kind in South Africa.[9][10][8][1]
Further reading
- "Local Talent on Show at Art Salon". The Sunday Independent. 21 December 2011.
- Corrigall, Mary. "The Female Body, Drawn and Quartered The Encoded Body exhibition by Pamela Stretton". The Sunday Independent, 29 April 2007, p. 10