ABOUT THE ARTIST

Abstract artist Cassie Snelgar was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. Her work is underpinned by a multidisciplinary grounding in Architecture, Psychology and a Masters in Art.

ABOUT THE WORK

Cas Snelgar’s latest work explores female sexuality as an inherited memory. Combining her own personal experiences with the aesthetic of 1960’s pornographic images her work seeks to explore what is memory, what is part of an inherited collective unconscious and what are conditioned beliefs based on the commoditisation of female form.

Influenced by the work of Carl Jung the artist uses gestural symbols to explore the potential of ‘archetypes’ and the ‘collective unconscious’ as tools to deepen the understanding of self beyond ‘metaphysical truth’.

‘I was always interested in the context created for these porn stars to perform in, one is a cowboy, another a naughty nurse. Their creators instinctively tap into the childhood memories of the male gaze to deepen the erotic potency. I love playing with the themes and moods within my work to subvert that same potential, to question what makes one ‘feel’ sexual and how corrupt or pure that impulse is.’

Dynamic, dance like movements fuel the artist’s initial mark-making in a form of psychic automatism. This process of creation as a somatic psychological release aids in the artist’s exploration of memory and fantasy untethered by social conditioning or conscious constraints. The layers build as the form is found within the spontaneous marks. Once the artist has discovered the subject each brush stroke grows more intimate and intentional.

‘Each new painting is like starting a new love affair. The initial free flow of ink without control or direction, just like I’m meeting someone new. As we get to know each other the works reveal themselves to me. It is a sensual and erotic exchange of energy that grows in intimacy just like any new relationship.’