Artist 158
Ella Cronjé
Subversion of Fairy Tales
Ceramic Sculpture
Ella Cronjé is a South African artist who specializes in whimsical, dark sculptures.
She was inspired to research fables and fairy tales in general, origins and meanings as well as the relevance of fables and fairytales in the contemporary world.
“Countless fairy tales with infinite variations, usually conveying moral, social or political lessons through skillful narrative and interesting characters, have existed worldwide throughout history.” She elaborates, “Personally, what I found most interesting is that it seems that all of humanity basically shares the same underlying psychological make-up – history as an account of mental life.”- Ella Cronjé
The artist explains, she never outgrown her childhood fascination with monsters and imaginary creatures/friends.
“These imaginary creatures have always formed an integral part of my life in one-way or another. They represent my dreams, desires, questions, and fears; made visible through notions that I often have no words to express or comprehend. However, I now am able to revisit and view them through adult eyes and analyze them with recently acquired knowledge. Many the original intended moral values/lessons of these fables are now clearly questionable and dubious in meaning.” - Ella Cronjé
Many of the narratives she researches revisit her old personal fears. As an artist, she uses her voice/tools to confront and work with these fears, dreams and desires in her creative process and output.
“There are many of these fables, fairytales and stories I will continue to research in my future work with the hope of discovering more deeply personal subconscious fragments rising to the surface of my own being.” - Ella Cronjé
Sources Consulted:
https://www.rust-en-vrede.com/ella-cronje/
Ella Cronjé Ceramic Facebook page
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