Nkandla fire pool inspires lipstick art
SANDTON - Resident and Johannesburg’s resident lipstick artist, Sarah Britten has come up with an unusual take on Nkandla.
Britten is a social media strategist and creates political-themed artwork using lipstick.
Her latest art piece, Firepool was inspired by the fire pool built as part of President Jacob Zuma’s residence.
Firepool consists of eight separate panels in lipstick and ink combined to create one large work. Britten priced each panel at R23 000 and every day the price will escalate – much as the case was with Nkandla – before the work finally reaches a price of R246 000.
“I often paint or sketch with themes,” she said. “I love the fact that I am able to express that side of myself. I never used to. It is completely accidental in many respects.”
When asked about her approach to art, she explained the process to be emotive and visceral. She spends a lot of time writing opinion pieces and follows a specific structure when using words. With art her approach is different.
“Creating art is a lot easier than writing as I do not need to explain the art,” said Britten.
‘People can look at it on the wall and respond to it,” she added. She often finds art more fulfilling than writing as it is produced once and does not need to be revisited. When she does revisit her works at an exhibition she said she finds it “interesting to reflect on how I felt at the time I painted them”.
The Firepool panels are on display at Velo, 85 Juta Street, Braamfontein
Details: Sarah Britten on sarahjbritten@gmail.com
