Joe Joubert Ballance

Joe Joubert.Born in the Kalahari District,South Africa 1963.The point of departure in my thought process evolves around the confrontation between man and nature and our own human nature. Although my ideas take shape in an imaginary world, Africanism , its images and landscape becomes a very important ingredient. It is not my intent to paint pure nature scenes for the sake of using nature as a subject.I am not in awe of perfection, knowing it is not achievable.If we as Human beings put aside any assumptions of superiority,we may yet learn a great deal from Nature,in terms of how to live in harmony and balance with all other human and non human inhabitants of the Earth.Even a desert is littered with opportunity,if we choose to see the embryonic potential contained within it.Given just a little nourishment,Nature(and the human spirit) can overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles -to grow,flourish and achieve the seemingly impossible.Today we are face with a challenge that calls for a shift in our thinking,so that humanity stops threatening its life support system.