Artist, Johannesburg (b. 1951)
Toni-Ann Ballenden has been producing Art and teaching since qualifying in Fine Art at The Wits Technicon in 1993 Cum Laude. Her work is in three major collections: The Anglo American Collection, The Sasol Collection and The Johannesburg University Collection. Ballenden has had five solo exhibitions and has been included in many group shows.
In 2015 Ballenden had an Artists Residence at the Bag Factory for three months, then moved on to Ariel Empire Studios with Bronwyn Lace. At the end of March 2016 this group of Artists moved into August House.
She works intuitively on raw canvas and paper primed with alcolin cold glue. The work is made from deconstructed unresolved paintings which are cut up and used for collage. In her process, she relies on the accidental mark. Her work often goes into the washing machine to see what marks get left behind. She uses ballpoint pens, inks, pencil and pencil crayons, and occasionally gold leaf, as part of the layering process. She cuts out the marks she doesn’t agree with, then reconstructs using pieces of deconstructed failed canvases until the work resolves itself. This layering process can take up to three months to create the obsessive and intriguing marks on the canvas. Imagery and inspiration are absorbed from looking out of her second floor window at August House. The energy of city life, the rubbish, the sounds and the structure of the building have become the starting point for her art.
Toni-Ann Ballenden currently lives and works in Johannesburg, with a studio based at August House.