Ashley Walters - Uitsig

Masters Graduate Shows

The Masters in Fine Arts programme is a stretch of time in which graduates cut their teeth through a rigorous interrogation of their art practices within a two-year dedication to their projects. The process, although supervised, is a predominantly self-motivated endeavour, and exemplifies the highest standard of practice at the Michaelis School of Fine Art.

Ashley Walters

Uitsig

The project is a photographic investigation into the community of Uitsig and surrounding suburbs of Parow Industrial, Ravensmead, Florida, Cravenby, Belhar and Eureka, and the interaction of these communities with the landscape and structures that exist in these places. Many of the current challenges found in places like Uitsig include high levels of unemployment, the ravaging drug epidemic amongst low-income households, turf wars between gangs and the increase of violent crimes due to drug and alcohol abuse.

The Afrikaans word ‘uitsig’ has three main descriptions, firstly it implies seeing that which is out of sight or hidden. Secondly ‘uitsig can refer to a prospect or a view, to look onto or over a city or landscape. Lastly the word ‘uitsig’ means to show one’s persona or display ones character. Following these descriptions, Uitsig becomes central to investigating the relationship between spatiality and social ordering within the representation of this place and the different communities, gangs, religious and cultural groups, and landscape architecture.