Hot Coals was commissioned by Chris Corbin in 2021 for Kudu Grill.
It is a mixed media work on marine plywood measuring 180cm x 80cm with rounded ends.
The brief was to be non-figurative and to suggest the hot coals used to cook on a braai [South African barbecue] which is the feature of Kudu Grill.
I started off using the colours of the South African flag as a jumping off point with cracked paint representing the hot coals.
The hues strayed slightly away from the flag colours as I started painting. Chris had suggested the curved edges, which could maybe represent a tribal shield and the blended paint where the colours met. I kept the blend for the base of the work but grew to think of the top of the piece as the sun in the sky over a wall. In my mind a braai is traditionally an outdoor event and most of my painting is based around a weathered wall motif.
The cracked paintwork finally found it's way into the piece as a representation of a tree, amongst the texture of the yellow portion, to signify the growth of Kudu's second restaurant. The coals became less abstract as that developed. To re-iterate the tree concept, trees being where coal originates from, I added touches to suggest things carved into them, like a love heart.
Steve Wilde
October 2021
It is a mixed media work on marine plywood measuring 180cm x 80cm with rounded ends.
The brief was to be non-figurative and to suggest the hot coals used to cook on a braai [South African barbecue] which is the feature of Kudu Grill.
I started off using the colours of the South African flag as a jumping off point with cracked paint representing the hot coals.
The hues strayed slightly away from the flag colours as I started painting. Chris had suggested the curved edges, which could maybe represent a tribal shield and the blended paint where the colours met. I kept the blend for the base of the work but grew to think of the top of the piece as the sun in the sky over a wall. In my mind a braai is traditionally an outdoor event and most of my painting is based around a weathered wall motif.
The cracked paintwork finally found it's way into the piece as a representation of a tree, amongst the texture of the yellow portion, to signify the growth of Kudu's second restaurant. The coals became less abstract as that developed. To re-iterate the tree concept, trees being where coal originates from, I added touches to suggest things carved into them, like a love heart.
Steve Wilde
October 2021