adminThe Herald, December 12, 1979
JACKIE Noakes describes her brand of art as an oil painting in the round.
Her ceramic sculptures feature a variety of facets from life: little incidents that she has seen, mentally filed, and then created three-dimensionally with clay and oils.
“This one,” she says pointing to a miniature scene, is called The Hairdresser”. You must have seen it dozens of times on the side of the road – one woman doing another’s hair.
“This is the Bath Time scene. I have seen it happen so often in rivers around the country.”
The Bath Time scene features three laughing women sitting around a pool in which a little boy is being doused.
This is my interpretation of a storyteller,” she continues, “with children hanging on to every word from the old man. And here is the barber and the ox-wagon and the donkey.”
Jackie Noakes has captured the little gems of life so often overlooked in the hubbub of everyday living.
All her work is flavoured by Africa where she has mostly lived since leaving her native Britain at the age of 16.
She went, with her family to Zambia where she met and married a policeman. It was during her husband’s rural postings that Mrs Noakes received her artistic grounding in wild game.
“I had always worked with clay, since my early childhood, and when we lived in Mumbwa I started using local red clay to model animals.
“We lived close to a tsetse fly barrier where a lot of animals were shot. It wasn’t very pleasant, but it gave me the opportunity of studying the animals’ anatomy.
“We used to go on tours into the bush a lot during the 10 years spent in Mumbwa and Kafue and we had come across typical African scenes which inspired me.”
But it was not until nine years ago when the family moved to Australia, that Mrs Noakes started firing her sculptures.
There, she tended towards Australian scenes and it was not long before she was exhibiting her work and selling it.
Missing Africa, the family came to Zimbabwe Rhodesia five years ago, and Mrs Noakes’ work developed further. She returned to her sculptures of game and typical African scenes.
The process for each piece can be lengthy with a big work easily taking six weeks to complete.
Mrs Noakes is holding her second Salisbury exhibition this week. A joint exhibition with artist Anne Long, it is being held in the Standard Bank Gallery, John Boyne House.
The proceeds from the auctioning of an original ceramic figurine of a troopie and a painting will be given by the two artists to the Army Welfare Fund and St Giles’ Rehabilitation Centre.
LESSONS FOR TODAY
Art forms – be it paintings, drawings, sculpture, music or written works imitate life. They also appeal to everyday events.
Art is a major revenue earner, and in most countries, there are policies in place to promote and protect different art genres.
According to the National Gallery of Zimbabwe Director, Raphael Chikukwa, “Zimbabwe is rich in terms of contemporary art, and we are not short of artists who can showcase on a global stage.”
It means that Zimbabwe can also engage and re-engage through its artists and their art forms.
Online Reporter