Notes

Broken Doll is the first of Nel’s still lifes to utilise a table and tablecloth as a shallow recessional plane to present a collection of objects to the viewer. The central and most significant of these is an early 20th century Ndebele ceremonial doll which, as indicated by the title of the work, bears evidence of partial unravelling. Composed of concentrically stacked hand-beaded rings, the doll is traditionally presented as a talisman to encourage fertility and, as such, is implicitly laden with religious and ritualistic significance, rather than the function of a plaything. The origin of the work can be traced to the doll – which belonged to Nel’s mother as a child – being inadvertently damaged by Nel’s own infant daughter. The significance of this event demonstrates both the connection, and potential discontinuity, in their own female lineage as the nuclear family structure grows successively smaller with each generation. On a broader level, the broken doll could be interpreted as the demise of indigenous rites and values in Africa’s modern social climate. The work also potentially bears reference to damage inflicted upon traditional knowledge and customs by the socio-political influence of foreign cultures throughout Africa’s history. As with many of Nel’s paintings completed pre-1994, the feather denotes exodus or perhaps a failed attempt at freedom. Together with the sun-bleached tortoiseshell, the three objects serve as a Postmodern memento mori for South Africa’s uncertain future – remaining as relevant today as in the 1980s.

Exhibited

Barriers, 2000, National Cultural History Museum, Pretoria.

Retrospective 1970 - 2017, 2017, Pretoria Art Museum, Pretoria.