Janine Bezuidenhout

Janine Bezuidenhout is an artist who uses performance and mixed-media installation to create utopias in which she cares for her mental health. Her alter ego ‘Janine Whitney Lucy Pubs’ is a character that she developed in order to discuss her own mental health, with vulnerability and honesty. The character is fluid and destructive. This ego is a survivor of heartbreak, addiction, dis-ease and self-harm. Janine was shortlisted for this year’s prestigious David Koloane Award, presented by the Bag Factory Artists’ Studios, and presents COMPENSATION FOR YOUR MOURNING (A love letter to myself), as part of the award. “This project serves as a note to my younger self,” explains Janine, “whom I wish will understand better what it means to define societal norms and not fit in… I’m using art to heal: heartbreak, deceit, longing for honesty, love and care. This is a love letter to myself and future selves that I was here for them, to talk about the things they needed to hear.”