How a matric pupil spilt his blood for his art

Blood may be thicker than water, but how does it compare to oils and acrylics?

Mason Capel, 17, would know, after he used two vials of his own blood to create his matric exam artwork.

Capel, from Fourways in Johannesburg, completed the work over three days at the Synaptic College in Olivedale last month, using ink, bleach and his blood to paint mirror images for his visual arts practical exam.

When the theme for the art practical, “Nature or Nurture”, was revealed, he investigated the issue of psychopathy.

He read up on the lives of three killers who were also artists — American Keith Hunter Jesperson, who murdered eight women in the US during the early 1990s; American Danny Rolling, dubbed the Gainesville Ripper, who murdered five students in August 1990; and Durban-born Zwelethu Mthethwa, a painter and photographer who was convicted of murder in 2017 and is in Pollsmoor prison.

“I specifically chose killers who are artists because we have to show artist research in our visual journals as well,” said Capel.

His painting also features moths flying out of the chest of one person’s body and the insects flying into the chest of another person’s body.

He said the moths symbolized intuition and that those flying into the chest showed someone who is born good as opposed to the other man – a psychopath - where the moths are flying out of the chest.

“I used my blood because it felt like the most effective medium in conveying the message of ‘blood is thicker than water’ and ‘nature is stronger than nurture’.”

• In the 1990s, British contemporary visual artist Marc Quinn began an ongoing series of self-portraits using his own face cast in his frozen blood

—  ULTIMATE SELFIE

Capel’s mother, Nicky Thompson, a nurse, drew two vials of blood from him on the eve of his practical exam.

“At first I wasn’t sure how it would work,” Thompson said. “But it’s a powerful medium with every ounce of his passion thrown in, so I love it, and love that he was brave enough! He puts his life and heart into his art, so this was just another expression of his talent.”

Capel, who is being homeschooled through distance education provider Teneo School, showed a photograph of his painting to his former art teacher, who he met at Synaptic College.

“She found it a little bit gross but she was very intrigued and impressed,” he said.

Amanda du Preez, a professor in visual culture studies at the University of Pretoria, said she was open to the message of blood as an artistic medium in some highly controlled and specific cases, “but as a standard practice it moves into the ritualistic and sacramental, which opens up more questions than answers”.

“Blood is a powerful metaphor, perhaps the most powerful human metaphor, the ‘juice of life’,  and treating it with the utmost respect and care is recommended,” she said.