THE ARTIST ON ACCESS:

THE ONLY REASON I CAN DRIVE LEGALLY IN THE STATES IS BECAUSE OF A LOOPHOLE IN TEXAN LAW. TEXAS DOES NOT ACCEPT VALID SOUTH AFRICAN DRIVER'S LICENSES AS PROOF THAT YOU CAN DRIVE ON THEIR ROADS. THEY DO HOWEVER ACCEPT KOREAN ONES. LUCKY FOR ME, I HAD BOTH. IN KOREA YOU CAN SWAP A VALID SOUTH AFRICAN LICENSE FOR A KOREAN ONE. WHAT LUCK THAT A SERIES OF UNPLANNED TRADES ALLOWS ME THE PRIVILEGE OF NOT HAVING TO NAVIGATE SOME OF THE DMV RULES THAT PREVENT PERSONS OF LOWER SOCIO-ECONOMIC STANDING TO TRAVEL FREELY IN THEIR OWN COUNTRY.

"Art making is a way of processing the world around me, structuring the incoming streams of information. My work is as a result of on-going, daily collecting, ordering and restructuring of such streams into new visuals and performative representations.

Recently, my work explores issues of migration and travel, whether forced or elective, and the documentation processes involved for both the migrant and the specific location they travel to. Large representations of my own travel and identification documentation (real and imagined) form the basis of one of my current bodies of work.

For PASS, the use of reoccuring elements and reflection was important. South Africa survived both the system of Apartheid as well as the transition into a democratic society, however core economic issues were left unresolved. Subsequently, any pressure and tension that was decompressed during the transition has slowly escalated to a point of intense frustration with the ruling party, the ANC."

- Mandy Messina