Michele Silk collages paper, scrap metal, plastic, tin cans, fabric and rubber into her oil, enamel and spray paintings. Further and more physical use is made of alternative tools such as scrapers, rollers and crayons. Initial investigation of waste has now grown into a mature and conceptual use of these throwaway fragments of our society. Silk notes that 'This disposable aspect is a metaphor for the attitude of modern society. The recyclable element relates to renewal – a notion that reflects my … understanding of election and transformation.'

In keeping with her interest, this new body of work examines, with striking visuals and gentle empathy, the human condition of the street children in Durban. Silk further notes that this work explores the identity of the street child as a collective, and focuses on the parallels between the street children and the pigeons that inhabit the city. The acuity of this interest is  finely honed by using materials and techniques that relate to the metropolis, on both visual and symbolic levels.

17 August - 05 September

Richard Hart's career as a graphic designer has been a twenty-year love affair with letterforms, words, text and language. 'Lingua Franca' takes this relationship into a gallery context and allows Hart to unhitch his craft from the imperatives of graphic design. Freed from the need to communicate to a mass audience, Hart's work engages intimately, using materials and techniques far removed from the traditional media associated with graphic design. 'Lingua Franca' uses sculpture, assemblage, drawing, painting, photography and installation to create a world of words that is by turns emotive, poignant, funny, provocative, clever, silly and absurd.

The concept for this project was born with Durban artists Deborah van Niekerk and Caroline Birch, and has its roots in the interest of contemporary South African cultural identities. Being white, female, South African and artists, Birch and van Niekerk are interested in the visual language of symbols and symbolism. More specifically, this extends into an interest in South African symbols, and how people react to them according to their inner identities.

In 'Masuga', the artists don maids' uniforms as a symbol of the inner uniform people adopt (for example housewives, businessmen, school teachers, clergy, artists, etc.) and also as a symbol of change. With this project the artists conclude that boundaries that once seemed clear cut are no longer so: social, residential, financial and gender boundaries all seem to be in constant flux. Working with photographer Rogan Ward, the two artists chose the medium of photography as a way of documenting this transient calling of circumstance.