MANKIND AT THE MILLENIUM   - OVERCROWD

"It is the province of Knowledge to speak And it is the privilege of Wisdom to listen." Oliver Wendell Holmes Her latest body of work furthers the political message. It is an attempt to give expression to the chaotic nature of the latter part of the 20th century. This is a broad canvas upon which the artist addresses a number of issues ranging from overpopulation, gender, sexuality, violence and the environment, to suggest a few.

However, she does not intend to sermonise on these problems, instead she lets the viewer participate in each piece, and come to their own conclusions. In a sense such issues are simply the starting points from which each piece was developed. "I have no intention of telling the viewer 'look this is what this sculpture means and is trying to say'. What I was thinking at the time I made them is irrelevant to the relationship a particular person may have to my work. I would prefer my audience to bring their own interpretation to the work".

Seftou	Omen	Worm Within	Overcrowd II

From viewing the work, one theme is unmistakably apt for encapsulating this particular period of history - chaos and uncertainty. The pieces complement each other and seem to form around the central piece entitled 'Amok'. 'Amok'is the harmonising focal point of the despair that is evoked by the sculptures surrounding it thus creating a strained tension which can not be easily overlooked. Almost like a spider, Shenda seems to be coaxing her audience into a trap where they are forced to interact with thoughts and feelings they may not particularly wish to address.

Amok	Worm Within	Seftou	Worm Within

The environment also is important to her. In 1990 she protested against pollution with a piece entitled 'The Killing Tree'. This is constructed of car exhausts spreading upwards and outwards into the sky. It bears one isolated fruit - that of a human skull. It was inspired by news reports which suggested that children were suffering from brain damage because of our polluted air. "This horrifies me. This planet is home to all of us and it should be our main priority to save it from destruction".

Magdalene's Arch	Magdalene's Arch	Killing Tree	Amok

One of the most interesting pieces is the 'Magdalene Arch'. From the front, depending on the way you perceive it, it portrays a human mouth with what seems like a tube protruding from the nose entering the gaping opening. From the rear, the piece portrays the mouth of the womb. Head-on, the sculpture suggests the pain and suffering of man as inflicted with an illness; yet the reverse evokes a sense of harmony to life. The tension is unmistakable, the more so because the harmonizing aspect is the female part of it. As Shenda says, "I think women are a harmonizing force in this world".