Artist Liesbeth Groenewald asks: does society “protect” women, as shoes do feet? The parallels of comfort and convenience are obvious. For women, like shoes, are often bound by the conventions of society and fashion. A collection of her works is on view at the NSA Gallery in Durban from July 18.

At first glance, her paintings seem to be divided into two, those of women and those of shoes and feet. The artist has not metamorphosed the women into feet or the feet into women but has left this up to the imagination of the viewer. Also of novel interest are the two-sided back-to-back drawings. These present the viewer with a choice: a sense of seeing the other point of view as well as a choice when hanging the drawing ion a wall. Liesbeth states that today’s living spaces seem to be much smaller, leaving little room for paintings. Two or more of these paintings, when rotated, give quite a few “decoration” options to their owner.