We live in an environment we take for granted. We often miss the essential and forget that we can make our routines so much more vibrant and interesting. Turning things around, upside down, inside out, backwards or maybe even just a minuscule course correction can charge up the humdrum, turn the common into the uncommon, and make the expected unexpected. SAQA asked their artists to look around their home or neighborhood to pick out an object or a phenomenon, something they see all the time but don’t really notice, and create a work of art with this as the feature.

Alicia Merrett, Juror, described the works: “A wide range of outstanding artworks were submitted, covering a variety of themes and of approaches to a fascinating subject: finding the extraordinary in the ordinary. The unexpected was sometimes clearly visible and other times was subtle and gentle. Compositions varied from the strongly graphic to the intricate textural, and technically from traditional methods through surface design to photographic and digital interpretations.” The artists represented in this exhibition have chosen to interpret forks, scissors, houseflies and pencil shavings, among other day-to-day objects and situations. Each artwork brings us a closer understanding and appreciation of the things that we live with on a daily basis. Each work gives us the opportunity to view the everyday in a new way.   More.