About the artist
Based in Cape Town, South Africa, Lynid Sales (b. 1973) explores themes of perception, vision and connectivity in her work. She aims to evoke a corporeal response in her audience, encouraging them to feel present in their own bodies and to "bring people to their senses."
Sales is particularly interested in the concept of the present as a mysterious, elusive, and ever-changing idea. Her past projects have included a series of installations and artworks investigating the circumstances of the controversial Helderberg plane crash, which involved her father as a passenger. These intricate constructions, made from carefully cut and pinned paper and rubber, highlight the fragility of existence, the nature of temporality, and the role of chance in our lives.
She has served as a visiting lecturer at the Michaelis School of Fine Art, at the University of Cape Town and the University of Stellenbosch. Sales earned both her BFA (1995) and MFA (2000) from the University of Cape Town, graduating with distinction. She received a merit award in the Absa L'Atelier and was a recipient of the Vermont Studio Center grant, participating in residencies at both the Vermont Studio Center and the Frans Masereel Center in Belgium.
Sales has exhibited internationally in solo shows at Galerie Maria Lund in Paris and Toomey Tourell in San Francisco, as well as locally at the Goodman Gallery, Bell-Roberts Contemporary, Joao Ferreira Gallery, and Gallery Momo. She has also taken part in group exhibitions across South Africa, the USA, Austria, London, the Netherlands, and Denmark. Her works are included in major collections in South Africa, as well as in the USA and Europe.
How Long can I Hold my Breath
Mixed media - 2007
The title of the artwork stems from the artist's childhood belief that holding her breath made her prayers more powerful and her messages to God stronger. On the morning her father passed away, she held her breath, praying for his safe return. When she began to investigate the issues surrounding the Helderberg plane crash, she sought a prototype life vest to work from. Her research led her to a safety company affiliated with SAA, where, without disclosing her intentions, she was given an old, damaged life vest that matched those used on the Helderberg passenger aircraft. Each vest bears a production date, and coincidentally, the one she received was stamped December 1987 - just a month after the accident in November 1987.
This artwork examines the paradox inherent in the function of a physical life vest, as these fragile vests ironically symbolise both life and death, as well as safety and danger. It draws a parallel between the physical body and the material object, with the deteriorating life vests representing lungs as sources of breath and life. Just as lungs inhale and exhale, the life vest inflates and deflates. It is believed that most passengers perished from smoke inhalation due to the toxic fire on board.
Thus, the life vest reflects the fragility of life, serving as a metaphor for delicate existence and the notion that life and death are separated by a single breath.
