Marlene Dumas
Over Lyken Lopen
1993, Oil on Canvas
90 x 70cm |
Those
who search for ‘meaning' in Dumas' work are opening
a Pandora's box of possibilities, none of which produce a
definitive answer. Such is the ability of her work to provoke
that Dumas has come to call herself ‘Miss Interpreted'.
Over Lyken Lopen, which means ‘over dead bodies',
shows a five-year-old girl standing naked over the body of
a man, staring warily at the viewer and hiding an arm behind
her back. As Dumas has stated, ‘it's suggestive, it
suggests all sorts of narratives but it doesn't really tell
you what's going on at all.' |