The Studio Life photogravure images switch between the perspectives of what Kentridge sees himself, and what we see as guests in his studio. In Felicia, Ida, Felicia, we see an isolated grouping of images pinned to a large working wall in Kentridge’s studio, a visual representation of the artist thinking out loud on full display in Vanishing Points, the second film in the Studio Life series. The images themselves are a collage of Kentridge’s mother Felicia (1930-2015) over the moon, and his granddaughter Ida, born during lockdown in April 2020, alongside a ruler – a simple yet powerful tool for measuring the distance between two points.
Felicia, enveloped by a celestial body, is emblematic of the distance loved ones attain after their passing, their memory waxing and waning in our everyday lives. Photographs of Ida, whose birth was a bright spot for Kentridge during the pandemic, served as his only introduction to her until she was six months old due to COVID-19 restrictions. Felicia, Ida, Felicia, provides a deeply personal glimpse into Kentridge’s world, with an emphasis on the longing for loved ones lost and separated from, and the desire to hold them together when the boundaries of time will forever keep them apart.