Tjaša Rener: New Works
“Muses”
Have you ever been so inspired by a particular set of seemingly mundane interactions with another person(s) that it grounded your confidence and eventually stimulated your creative energies to produce something novel? Or has any event in your life ever caused you to fall into a spell of serious thoughtfulness?
In Ms. Rener’s new body of work, the definite ‘yes’ to the above questions are not mutually exclusive. And it is from these answers that we grasp the two varying senses of “Muses” - the theme for these new works. The muses for these pieces that we engage with here date way back to certain important women who inspired, presided over, supported and encouraged Rener’s artistic interest, education and eventual career. The first set includes her mother, her aunty, her high school teacher, and her university mentor (University of Fine Art, Ljubljana and Zagreb). The second set includes powerful women like Nina Simone and Maya Angelou. These women, in their own respective ways, helped Ms. Rener to understand and accept herself as an artist. Within the context of the current paintings, the muses are ostensibly ordinary Ghanaian women as well as portraits of empowering females. For Rener, those who posed for this current body of work as well as the portraits of such personalities such as Michelle Obama and Chimamanda Adichie embody fearlessness, strength, pride and beauty. And it is the cumulative energy in these traits that animates the current pieces on display.
If the powerful goddesses referred to above (and in whose honor Rener dedicates this work) instigate the creation of these pieces, then the finished products also act as muses for the artist in another sense. In delving into this second understanding of ‘Muses’, we are interested in how the works (and perhaps all the artistic choices involved in producing them) act as moments of pause for her to reflect on the subjects she visualizes for us. Here, the specific concern Rener ponders gestures towards how some audiences might question her audacious decision to paint a portrait of black people. For her, such a concern is not an issue, as one can trace this choice simultaneously to some of the influences underpinning her work and the roots of her artistic practice. Here, we learn that the focus of Ms. Rener’s work, notwithstanding her location, is not only the everyday people that she encounters in her daily life but also influential female personalities. As well, we also become aware that her visual practice revolves around spotlighting dignified human figures as an essential theme. And it is this entangled perspective of mediating dignified (ordinary Ghanaian) females via painting and printing that we encounter in these masterfully crafted colorful artworks.
It is my hope that through this exhibition, your daily interactions enable you to solidify your confidence to create something new (or even acquire a new artwork!) as well as trigger serious consideration on your daily actions.
Joseph Oduro-Frimpong
Centre for African Popular Culture
Ashesi University