We recently had the chance to connect with Petra Mason and have shared our conversation below.
Good morning Petra, we’re so happy to have you here with us and we’d love to explore your story and how you think about life and legacy and so much more. So let’s start with a question we often ask: What is something outside of work that is bringing you joy lately?
Improvements and additions to my Artist’s Residency and Urban Farm property on the high-veld bush-veld, Growing indigenous plants, re-wilding and providing a green oasis for birds and other wildlife.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Petra Mason : Cultural Historian
After 20 years living in New York and Miami Petra Mason returned to South Africa. She founded Art Hit, publishing arts and culture writing and established Obscure Studio – an urban farm and artists residency.
‘Contemporary African art has taken centre stage. It is a very exciting time to be working in the city I was born in and in the art world I was born into.’
Mason authored a trilogy of vintage photography books for Rizzoli and edited ‘Imperfect Utopia’ for SKIRA/Rizzoli. Mason has partnered on projects with Perez Art Museum Miami, the Deering Estate, Philip Johnson’s Glass House, the Henry Morrison Flagler Museum and Smithsonian National Museum of African Art.
Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. Who taught you the most about work?
Who taught me the most about work?
My artist Mother, Judith Mason. Her Artist Statement: “I paint in order to make sense of my life, to manipulate various chaotic fragments of information and impulse into some sort of order, through which I can glimpse a hint of meaning. I am an agnostic humanist possessed of religious curiosity who regards making artworks as akin to alchemy. To use inert matter on an inert surface to convey real energy and presence seems to me a magical and privileged way of living out my days.” resounds deeply.
What have been the defining wounds of your life—and how have you healed them?
Struggles/defining wounds: Having to fend for myself at age 18. Mother moved to Tuscany, Italy and Father retired from his position as Professor of Archaeology very early and took off to cycle around America leaving me (the youngest) to fend for myself.
How healed: Not sure one entirely heals or has to. Acting as an adult very young is a blessing and a curse. With no option other than to figure it out and get on with it, that’s what I did and continue to do.
Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. Whom do you admire for their character, not their power?
Lee Miller. Dorothy Parker. Leni Riefenstahl, Frida Kahlo. Gloria Steinhem.
Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
That I must have been a flapper in my former life: reticent emotionally and courageous morally. You always know what she thinks, but she does all her feeling alone,” from Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald’s 1925 essay, “What Became of the Flappers?”. In the essay, Fitzgerald defines the ideal “flapper” not as a purely carefree figure but as a courageous, independent woman who expresses her thoughts clearly while keeping her emotional struggles private.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.petramason.com
- Instagram: @arthit_global @obscure_studio
- Twitter: @PetraMason
- Other: https://whitehotmagazine.com/contributors/petra-mason/946
Image Credits
(c) Sfiso Nkadimeng (c) Dion Chang
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
