i’ve been following local artist Alice Toich for a long time, in fact i think i may have discovered her on Instagram – where i noticed she has a serious love for baking. i wanted to feature her work on the blog but our wires kept getting crossed, then she appeared up in the South African version of The Great British Bake Off (which was, surprisingly, very good!) and although she didn’t win the title i loved seeing her ongoing success on screen and off – and her continued adventures in baking.
now she has debuted her first solo exhibition, The Icing Pink Ether, which seemingly combines her love for painting and baking in one, while tackling South African socio-political issues…
In this exhibition, ‘The Icing Pink Ether’, lusciously-painted and fleshy cakes are paraded across the canvas as a metaphor for sugar-coating the hard truths we need to swallow in our day-to-day lives as individuals within a greater community grappling with conflicting personal and political agendas. Toich uses the saccharine allure of desserts to expose deeper political agendas at play in our current socio-political climate. Pink is her shade of choice because it is an in-between colour. “Like grey,” she explains, “it exists between the polarities of two resolute places.” Ether is likewise an in-between idea, existing between particles, caught between science and magic. Torch’s opulent paintings and installation pieces draw inspiration from a life of contrast and conflict for South Africans: “poverty and privilege, the past and the present, the political powers and the power of the people, the willingness to hope and the apathy of continual tragedy.”
i so loved seeing these works come to life behind the scenes. the exhibition is running till 21 October.
PS: Alice has been snapped by Humans of New York and she also has a zine called BAEK