Alone

Title: Alone, Artist: Bernice Troskie, 2025. Oil Paint on Unstretched Canvas, A3 (42cm x 29,7cm)

This Artwork is part of the “Beeste” or “Cattle” exhibition running during the month of November at the JVH Art Gallery.

This artwork depicts a Nguni Bull, exiled from the herd as happens with the older more frail members. To be alone, for a social species, seems a dreadful punishment. Yet some of us seek it out, as the only place where we can hear clearly the voice of something far greater than ourselves. God, meaning, respite. these are often things which can only be found in the desolate quite dessert, where all we have are our thoughts. What would be going through the mind of such a creature, and would there be pain or hope in such a heart?

When the exhibition invite was made, The artist found herself thinking about the ancient link our species has with cattle. the meaning that the creature has had heaped on it’s back are endless. Wealth, fertility and worship are all elements of this, one of the oldest domesticated species on the planet, one of our first artistic subjects. Unlike goats; cows and sheep need us, have been bred by us to serve certain needs, and are therefore owed our care.