Mary Wafer

Mary Wafer has collaborated with David Krut Workshop (DKW) since 2005 with a focus on monotypes and etchings. In 2011, she returned to make a series of intaglio prints resulting in ensuing exhibitions at David Krut Projects (DKP) Johannesburg and Cape Town, entitled Countermeasures. In the same year, Wafer visited New York where she made 20 monotypes at Robert Blackburn Print Studio with master printer Phil Sanders.

In 2012, she again worked at DKW, this time collaborating not only with the printers but also with fellow artist Quinten Edward Williams. This work at DKW led to a solo show, called Mine, at DKP Johannesburg in2013, and a duo exhibition with Williams, aptly titled In Conversation.

In 2015, she had her third solo exhibition with DKP: Ninth Floor. It was the product of further collaboration between Wafer and the team at DKW.

Mary Wafer was born and grew up in Durban. After three years of study at the University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, she relocated to Johannesburg and completed her advanced diploma in fine art at Wits University. Wafer’s father Jeremy Wafer is a practicing South African artist which most certainly contributed to Wafer’s choice to pursue a career in the arts. She travelled to London and Copenhagen where she worked as a gallery administrator and artist. By 2005, Wafer had returned to South Africa to embark on her Masters of Art in fine art. Wafer’s earlier works draw on images related to movement and transport; she explored issues of exclusion and marginality in relation to the notion of space. Through paintings of alienating peripheral structures, such as freeways and bridges, focusing on the architectures of transport and mobility, Wafer explores ideas of structural marginality and exclusion in a contemporary South African context. In her prints, Wafer takes structures of corridors and lighting tracks, often seen on basement parking ceilings, as inspiration. By homing in on metaphorically isolated psychological spaces, Wafer explores notions of structural marginality and exclusion in contemporary South Africa. Depictions of peripheral structures, such as freeways and bridges, constitute this angle of exploration. In her work, Wafer uses lines of perspective to create the sense of a space exceeding the limits of the page. She is careful not to over-work a print, leaving it up to the viewer to “complete” the image within our imaginations. The slightest suggestion of an extended space can be enough information to grasp the image and its underlying social commentary.

Artworks

Berea Road

Reflex Blue (ed. of 10)

Misregistered (ed. of 20)

Facade (ed. of 20)

Johannesburg Central Police Station (ed. of 20)

Veneer II (ed. of 10)

Room 1008, John Voster Square, 15 February 1977 (ed. of 20)

Spots 1 (ed. of 15)

Spots 9 (ed. of 15)

Spots 10 (ed. of 15)

Glare (ed. of 20)

Slice (ed. of 20)

Slip (ed. of 20)

Untitled (Circle) (ed. of 20)

Basement I

Basement III

Basement IV

First Cut

Track 4

Track 6

Corridors 3

News

DKW’s Canadian intern Lacia Vogel

Jun. 1, 2018

My passion for printmaking began in 2009. I was studying fine arts at UBC Okanagan in Kelowna, BC, Canada, and...

Tags: David Krut, David Krut Workshop, Intern

Print of the Month (May 2018) Mary Wafer

May. 18, 2018

This month's print of the month was chosen by our current intern Sarah Hunkin, a student at the Wits University....

Tags: Arts on Main, Collaborative printmaking, David Krut Print Workshop, David Krut Projects Arts on Main, DKW, etching

What’s new at DKW? A display of prints and paintings curated by our staff 2016-08

Aug. 8, 2016

08/08/16 Blogger: Jessie Cohen (JC) There is a new display of work on the walls at DKW - a combination...

Tags: David Krut Print Workshop, David Krut Projects Arts on Main

It’s “gym time” as work gets physically demanding but strong backs and weak minds won’t cut it at AOM…

Nov. 18, 2015

18.11.15 Blogger & photographer: Jessie Cohen At this time of year, printers at AOM are wrapping up projects from 2015....

Tags: Arts on Main, David Krut

“In this profession, a millimetre matters”: Printing with precision at AOM

Nov. 13, 2015

It’s another scorching day at AOM and printer Kim-Lee Loggenberg is in the workshop bright and early, ready to roll....

Tags: Arts on Main, David Krut Print Workshop

This week at David Krut Workshop

Jul. 30, 2015

The week at DKW has been effervescent. With new works being produced for multiple artist’s simultaneously. Stephen Hobbs has been...

Studio Visit with Mary Wafer

Jun. 18, 2015

The DKP team recently paid a studio visit to artist Mary Wafer. Mary was kind enough to narrate the team...

Tags: studio visit

Mary Wafer Walkabout – Saturday 11 May

May. 8, 2013

Please join us on Saturday 11 May at 11h00 when Mary Wafer will be hosting a walkabout through her exhibition,...

Tags: walkabout

The Undertones of Marikana – Mary Wafer: “Mine” Exhibiton Review

May. 2, 2013

By Bronwyn Law- Viljoen. Published in the Mail and Guardian, 26 April 2013. [caption id="attachment_25399" align="alignnone" width="640"] "Waiting" (2013)[/caption] No...

Tags: Exhibition review

Installation Images – In Conversation: Quinten Williams & Mary Wafer

Apr. 11, 2013

In Conversation: Quinten Williams & Mary Wafer opened at David Krut Projects, Cape Town. Below are a series of installation...

Tags: Arts on Main, David Krut Print Workshop, David Krut Projects Cape Town, Parts & Labour

Mary Wafer and Quinten Williams at David Krut Print Workshop, Arts on Main

Nov. 22, 2012

In preparation for her exhibition in early 2013 at David Krut Projects, Jan Smuts, Mary Wafer has begun working on...

Untitled: DKW Summer Show (5 November 2011 – 21 January 2012)

Nov. 1, 2011

The David Krut Projects Summer Show for 2011 features artworks from a wide selection of artists, most of whom have...

Tags: David Krut Projects, Exhibition Post

Guillotine by Lisa Jaffe: Official Launch 29 October 2011

Oct. 6, 2011

Lisa Jaffe is proud to announce the official opening of...

Tags: 2011 Joburg Art Fair, 44 Stanley, Candice Wyatt, David Krut Workshop, Fashion, Jillian Ross, Joao Orecchia, Lisa Jaffe, Mary Wafer

David Krut Projects at Joburg Art Fair 2011

Sep. 17, 2011

David Krut Projects will be showcasing work by Bruce Backhouse, Gail Behrmann, Deborah Bell, Bronwen Findlay, Claire Gavronsky, Joseph Hart, Stephen...

Tags: First Cut, Johannesburg Art Fair 2011