Barbara Wildenboer South Africa, b. 1973

Overview

Barbara Wildenboer (b. 1973, South Africa) investigates the philosophical concept of aesthetics throughout a range of different mediums and processes. By exploring this concept alongside phenomena such as temporality, fractal geometry, and the interconnectedness of all living things, she exposes the connections between a myriad of life forms – from the microscopic to the immense. Wildenboer’s primary focus is on environmental aesthetics, which she sees as encompassing both natural territories and the human interaction with the natural realm. Her work is also concerned with the idea of the mathematical sublime (an aesthetical notion first developed by Immanuel Kant) and how the infinity and boundlessness of the universe transcend the limits of reason.

 

Wildenboer uses a combination of analog and digital processes to produce a diverse and rich body of work that primarily consists of collages, photo- and paper constructions, installations, digitally animated photographic sculptures, and book arts. A decade ago, Wildenboer started a large-scale book project named “Infinitesimally Small and Unimaginable Large.” This ongoing project, inspired by the short story by the Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges, “The Library of Babel,” uses the library as a metaphor for the universe. By altering books, maps, and other found objects from secondhand bookshops and markets, Wildenboer creates three-dimensional paper works that reflect how humankind is affected by globalization, economic upheavals, scarcity, political corruption, wars, epidemics, and natural disasters. In all her paper sculptures and collages, there is a playful aspect of creating references within other references - attention being drawn to our understanding of science as mediated through text and language. As a result, Wildenboer creates in her work an entirely alternate reality that exposes and explores modern human life and the fragility of the symbiotic relationship between man and ecology.

 

Her most recent body of work entitled LOOT is informed by a growing interest in how meaning is created and shaped by the encounter between Africa and Europe. The artist uses ‘appropriation’ to explore ideas around this. The use of appropriation is on the one side a reference to looted artifacts that have been expropriated from their origins but also to the manner in which Wildenboer usually engages with her medium (altered books and found images for collage), which has always involved appropriating different texts and reconfiguring them in some way.

 

Available Works

 

Solo Exhibition Catalogue

Works
  • Barbara Wildenboer, An Encyclopaedia of World History, 2021
    Barbara Wildenboer
    An Encyclopaedia of World History, 2021
    Hand-cut altered book
    56 x 62 x 6 cm
  • Barbara Wildenboer, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, 2022
    Barbara Wildenboer
    An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, 2022
    Hand-cut altered book
    40 x 52 x 6 cm
  • Barbara Wildenboer, Classical Dictionary, 2022
    Barbara Wildenboer
    Classical Dictionary, 2022
    Hand-cut altered book
    42 x 50 x 6 cm
  • Barbara Wildenboer, Eternal Expansion II, 2020
    Barbara Wildenboer
    Eternal Expansion II, 2020
    Hand-cut paper sculpture
    290 mm (diameter); 60 mm (width)
  • Barbara Wildenboer, Eternal Expansion VI, 2020
    Barbara Wildenboer
    Eternal Expansion VI, 2020
    Hand-cut Paper Sculpture
    190 mm (diameter); 60 mm (width)
  • Barbara Wildenboer, Eternal Expansion VII, 2020
    Barbara Wildenboer
    Eternal Expansion VII, 2020
    Hand-cut Paper Sculpture
    190 mm (diameter); 60 mm (width)
  • Barbara Wildenboer, Faust, 2022
    Barbara Wildenboer
    Faust, 2022
    Hand-cut altered book
    40 x 45 x 6 cm
  • Barbara Wildenboer, History of the Worlds Art, 2022
    Barbara Wildenboer
    History of the Worlds Art, 2022
    Hand-cut altered book
    50 x 65 x 6 cm
  • Barbara Wildenboer, On the Philosophy of History, 2022
    Barbara Wildenboer
    On the Philosophy of History, 2022
    Hand-cut altered book
    48 x 56 x 6 cm
  • Barbara Wildenboer, Provenance I, 2022
    Barbara Wildenboer
    Provenance I, 2022
    Hand-cut sculptural collage
    180 x 120 x 6 cm
  • Barbara Wildenboer, Provenance II, 2022
    Barbara Wildenboer
    Provenance II, 2022
    Hand-cut sculptural collage
    180 x 120 x 6 cm
  • Barbara Wildenboer, Social Anthropology, 2022
    Barbara Wildenboer
    Social Anthropology, 2022
    Hand-cut altered book
    45 x 50 x 6 cm
  • Barbara Wildenboer, Spoils of War II, 2021
    Barbara Wildenboer
    Spoils of War II, 2021
    Paper-construction
    239 x 50 x 5 cm
  • Barbara Wildenboer, Spoils of War III, 2021
    Barbara Wildenboer
    Spoils of War III, 2021
    Paper-construction
    239 x 50 x 5 cm
  • Barbara Wildenboer, Spoils of War IV, 2021
    Barbara Wildenboer
    Spoils of War IV, 2021
    Paper-construction
    239 x 50 x 5 cm
  • Barbara Wildenboer, Spoils of War V, 2021
    Barbara Wildenboer
    Spoils of War V, 2021
    Paper-construction
    239 x 50 x 5 cm
  • Barbara Wildenboer, The Caryatids II, 2021
    Barbara Wildenboer
    The Caryatids II, 2021
    Hand-cut analogue collage on Fabriano
    74 x 54 x 5 cm
  • Barbara Wildenboer, The Caryatids IV, 2021
    Barbara Wildenboer
    The Caryatids IV, 2021
    Hand-cut analogue collage on Fabriano
    74 x 54 x 5 cm
  • Barbara Wildenboer, The Caryatids V, 2021
    Barbara Wildenboer
    The Caryatids V, 2021
    Hand-cut analogue collage on Fabriano
    74 x 54 x 5 cm
  • Barbara Wildenboer, The Caryatids VI, 2021
    Barbara Wildenboer
    The Caryatids VI, 2021
    Hand-cut analogue collage on Fabriano
    74 x 54 x 5 cm
Exhibitions
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  • Barbara Wildenboer, Provenance I, 2022
    Barbara Wildenboer
    Provenance I, 2022
    Hand-cut sculptural collage
    180 x 120 x 6 cm
  • Barbara Wildenboer, Provenance II, 2022
    Barbara Wildenboer
    Provenance II, 2022
    Hand-cut sculptural collage
    180 x 120 x 6 cm
  • Barbara Wildenboer, Spoils of War II, 2021
    Barbara Wildenboer
    Spoils of War II, 2021
    Paper-construction
    239 x 50 x 5 cm
  • Barbara Wildenboer, Spoils of War III, 2021
    Barbara Wildenboer
    Spoils of War III, 2021
    Paper-construction
    239 x 50 x 5 cm
  • Barbara Wildenboer, Spoils of War IV, 2021
    Barbara Wildenboer
    Spoils of War IV, 2021
    Paper-construction
    239 x 50 x 5 cm
  • Barbara Wildenboer, Spoils of War V, 2021
    Barbara Wildenboer
    Spoils of War V, 2021
    Paper-construction
    239 x 50 x 5 cm
  • Barbara Wildenboer, The Caryatids II, 2021
    Barbara Wildenboer
    The Caryatids II, 2021
    Hand-cut analogue collage on Fabriano
    74 x 54 x 5 cm
  • Barbara Wildenboer, The Caryatids IV, 2021
    Barbara Wildenboer
    The Caryatids IV, 2021
    Hand-cut analogue collage on Fabriano
    74 x 54 x 5 cm
  • Barbara Wildenboer, The Caryatids V, 2021
    Barbara Wildenboer
    The Caryatids V, 2021
    Hand-cut analogue collage on Fabriano
    74 x 54 x 5 cm
  • Barbara Wildenboer, The Caryatids VI, 2021
    Barbara Wildenboer
    The Caryatids VI, 2021
    Hand-cut analogue collage on Fabriano
    74 x 54 x 5 cm
  • Barbara Wildenboer, Eternal Expansion II, 2020
    Barbara Wildenboer
    Eternal Expansion II, 2020
    Hand-cut paper sculpture
    290 mm (diameter); 60 mm (width)
  • Barbara Wildenboer, Eternal Expansion VI, 2020
    Barbara Wildenboer
    Eternal Expansion VI, 2020
    Hand-cut Paper Sculpture
    190 mm (diameter); 60 mm (width)
  • Barbara Wildenboer, Eternal Expansion VII, 2020
    Barbara Wildenboer
    Eternal Expansion VII, 2020
    Hand-cut Paper Sculpture
    190 mm (diameter); 60 mm (width)