The work is shown here as installed as part of Soil & Water a group exhibition curated by Basak Senova, Johan Thom and the NIROX Foundation, Cradle of Humankind, Kromdraai, South Africa 1 Nov 2025 – 17 April 2026. The soil and pigment paintings are by the artist Seretse Moletsane.

This process-based artwork was made by repeatedly imprinting my left heel in small balls of raw porcelain clay and firing the resulting objects. The work is made to the current weight of my body for a total of 208 shapes packed out in a grid approx 9 meters by 1.5 meters in size.

The artwork is an ode to the lowly heel, a vital part of the body that we rarely think about too carefully. But, as we no longer walk toe first, modern humans constantly carry the full force of their weight on their heels.

In recognition of my complex heritage as part of the Dutch and European colonial settlers in southern Africa, I chose to render my left heel in white porcelain clay. In this sense the work also traces my journey through different parts of the world, making visible a small part of my impact and continued presence thereupon.

The artwork is an accompanying piece to RH#1 (right heel – the weight of my body in clay) made in 2024, and held in the permanent collection of Foundation Casa Wabi, Mexico – over 14,000 kilometres away.

(All photographs by Johan Thom except for this close-up by Alet Pretorius).