Synopsis
If a word were to be applied to Diane Victor's impressive body of prints and drawings, it would be 'rigorous' u for Victor is nothing if not rigorous in her approach to subject matter, in her attention to the technical difficulties of printmaking, in her commitment to figurative drawing. The word, however, might mask the tenderer elements of her artmaking, the humour of her satirical works. Indeed, the tension generated by Victor's work arises not simply from her biting social commentary and the sometimes macabre nature of her images and narratives, but rather from this interplay between the tough and the fragile, between the hard edges (literal and figurative) of her visual narratives and the delicate mark-making and fragility of her preferred media. Victor's works often make acute observations about the social ills of South African society but her visual metaphors also incorporate art-historical and autobiographical references and serve as both a public and private form of exorcism.Karen von Veh remarks that she 'layer[s] Gothic symbolism, religious imagery and actual and symbolic references to works by other artists, and always there is a level of disturbing personal content th