‘When I first saw one of Claudia’s paintings several years ago, I was struck by a strange sensation. Clearly, I could see a plant form in front of me. But there was something else that I couldn’t put my finger on. Was it an eeriness about the shapes, was it an almost sexual quality that these plant forms contained? Yes, it was both of these, but it was something more. The tension in the form and symmetry, the taut wound-up quality of the painting technique, cause the paintings to bounce. They vibrate, they pulse, they throb. That was it. The paintings are super intense! They are explosive! They suck the viewer in, they overwhelm us, they absorb us in their vibrant colour, their life force takes us over. They have an edge that simple hyper- realism could never have. They start from the simplest seed, often dead and totally unremarkable, and through her painting focus, end up by exploding in our faces’.
Estelle Jacobs
Claudia’s latest body of work brings the quiet intimacy of nature into dialogue with the human experience.
Known for her magnified, vibrant plant paintings, Claudia is exploring a new direction in her painting: a more human narrative. While continuing with her theme of nature, Claudia’s latest body of work captures people interacting with their natural environment.
Each painting tells a story. It is a private, precious moment. This moment gives the viewer pause, and in this pause we appreciate the simple joy of taking time to be with ourselves and each other outdoors.
Claudia depicts light as a moving, living entity. She loves to capture how light dapples and stretches across its surface. In her paintings, the surrounding natural elements are as alive as the people enjoying them. Nature is as much a subject as the people in it.
Claudia’s painting is deeply tied to and linked with her love of Yoga, which has been her lifeblood since 1994. The symmetry of nature, paralleled in the human body, has always fascinated her. Both use balance and structure. Both are composed of the tensions of opposites and counterpoint.
Observation is vital to Claudia. She notices the detail of form and shapes in nature and in the human body. Her eye is drawn to the subtlety of muscle, the curve of a leaf, the posture of a figure mid-movement. These details give her work its quiet, emotional power. These are introspective scenes: a figure bracing before entering cold water. Claudia captures both the feeling & musculature behind these simple, exhilarating experiences.
Through her painting, Claudia conveys the intrinsic unity that pervades nature. As living beings, we inherently belong to our environment. Reconnecting with these elements has a profoundly grounding effect on our state of being.
‘ All the paintings in Rooted possess a straightforward clarity and brightness. And this is not limited to the plants themselves but the very light that surrounds them.them’. ‘Gurwitz works holistically rather than in a scientific framework. When a plant moves her, she needs to paint it, driven by a strong compulsion to get it out onto the canvas’. ‘Rooted gives the viewer an opportunity to look at the vibrancy of plants – often those overlooked and under-appreciated. Go and see it.’
Lucinda Jolly; Cape Times Review of Rooted, Claudia Gurwitz’s Solo Exhibition at The Irma Stern Museum