Diploma in Fine Art & M.A. Art History
I grew up in my mother’s lush farm garden surrounded by vast expanses of semi-desert Great Karoo, with its crystalline sky. There was also a print of Tretchikoff's "Lost Orchid" from the late 1940's in the farmhouse. These are the main sources for my interest in portraying flowers and in natural beauty, which was later further enhanced by living in Europe. I trained as a Fine Artist, majoring in sculpture, under Michael Mitford-Barberton. Tretchikoff famously also knew that flowers have characters. This and my interest in the sculptural form of flowers are the main components of my floral works. The third is colour – or rather, chromatic vibrational potential. Colour is, simply, energy. I’m interested in portraying the energy of nature.
My subjects and themes grow from what interests me and are often borrowed from photography or video imagery. I’m interested also in shaping works that transcend man-made boundaries, do not need complicated explanations and are simply a homage to the human and natural spirit. I draw from nature in “realistic”, geometric and human (mostly portrait) form. The “style” I use is academic – based on drawing – and is pared down to a pop or graphic statement. It does not try to be anything other than itself.
Professional Training
1974
Diploma of Fine Arts (majoring in sculpture),Cape Technical College, Cape Town, South Africa
1975-76
Bursary to the Koninklijke Academie voor Schone Kunsten,Belgium (specializing in stained glass)
1983
Masters in Modern Art History, J.W.-Goethe-Universität,Frankfurt, Germany
Selected Recent Exhibitions:
2002 OPEN - International Sculpture Exhibition, Lido di Venezia (IT)
2006 ART FAB - Citadelle, Saint Tropez (FR)
2006 KAROO BASICS - Prince Albert Gallery (ZA)
2011 INDIGèNES - Grande Provence Gallery, Franschhoek (ZA)
2012 Schedule:
Combaz7 Artist residency at Cité-Joie, Crans Montana (CH) - Working title: *bhlo- blossom - flourish (from Proto-Ind
What is your favourite film of all time?!
La vita è bella, by Roberto Benigni
What music are you currently listening to and why?
Violin concertos:Tchaikowsky & Mozart, Piano concertos: Mozart - music by exceptional people which transcends and inspires
Trio Joubran – for relaxing while painting
Which living artists do you most admire and why?
Bridget Riley – for painting the vibrations of colour and light
Mariko Mori – for soothingly beautiful videos about nature
Yayoi Kusama – she’s original and smart and fun
Bill Viola – for dramatic video art on a grand scale
Jamess Turrell – for monumental land art celebrating light
Jane Alexander – for skillfully showing ugliness, the other side of beauty
Which deceased artist do you most admire and why?
Any artist who celebrates beauty - and Irma Stern for being experimental
Which exhibition that you have visited made the greatest impact on you and why?
Michelangelo’s recent drawings at the Albertina, Vienna – drawing is the basis of all art/design, and his is exceptional
What is the question you get asked most frequently about your work and how do you answer it?
Why do I make both abstract and figurative work ? Answer: it’s all connected
What/ who inspired you to be an artist?
Nature, the crystalline light in the Karoo, stars …. and all the drawings ever made, starting on rocks
Can you tell us about where you make your art and what if any, the significance this location has.
I currently work in my in-house Karoo studio in Prince Albert. It’s important to be close to my work and see it grow alongside my daily life. Working in one of my former city studios, I also needed nature as close as possible - with light, water and trees nearby. I also enjoy working on public commissions, and the thrill of visiting industrial workshops to see progress made by craftspeople in translating my ideas
What do you like most about being an artist?
Staying true to my wish for expressing beauty, and being able to reassure viewers with it
What is your greatest achievement as an artist to date?
Exhibiting together with Yoko Ono et al - L’imaginaire féminin, Venice Open 2002 and with Jaume Plensa, Karen Lamonte, Marta Pan and Stephan Balkenhol et al in S.Tropez - Art Fab 2006
Public building commissions for schools in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, and having my work admired by the Grand Duke and Duchess
What are your plans for the coming year?
Attract buyers to my indigenous florals and go on a drawing trip in search of more beautiful flowers in Europe