About
Artist Statement
My sculptural practice is a contemplation of my place in, and interaction with, vast cyclic processes of transformation that shape our environment through time. I work with the transformational natures of glass and ceramics to create experimental amorphous forms, inspired by natural and geological formations. Geological formations reflect the vast timescales of the Earth and show how fleeting our human lifespans are. My practice is concerned with precarity and temporality and is grounded in the perception that the landscape is a body, as much as the human body is, that retains memory, trace and experience. Through my work, I reflect on my personal history and experience of growing up in South Africa, a landscape embedded with trauma and transformation. I reflect on the traces that are left, and connections that come to be, through encounters. I am interested in how we are constantly involved in interactions, how these interactions through time form a history, and how a history becomes embedded in a landscape. I translate this interest into material explorations using casting techniques that embody processes of cyclic transformation. I seek to develop a narrative of precarity as a collective current state through sculptural forms. Through my practice, I hope to not only convey the interconnectedness and interdependence, but also the commonalities that exist between the human body and the landscape.
Scholarships and Awards
2021: VLUHR, The Flemish Ministry of Education and Training: Master Mind Scholarship
2017: Zuid Afrika Huis: Studiefonds voor Zuid-Afrikaanse Studenten in Nederland
2015: NRF, National Research Foundation South Africa: NRF Full-Time B-Tech Block Grant Scholarship
BIO
I began my academic journey at the Tshwane University of Technology in Pretoria, South Africa, in 2012, where I specialized in printmaking, sculpture, and glass. From 2014 to 2016, I worked as a technical assistant, and in 2015, I became as a part-time lecturer in the Glass Department. I completed a Bachelor’s degree with distinction in 2015, graduating cum laude, and was awarded a scholarship from the National Research Foundation of South Africa.
I went on to pursue a Master’s degree, dedicating two years to my studies while establishing my personal kiln-glass studio in South Africa. To broaden my knowledge and gain international exposure, I participated in an exchange program from 2017 to 2018 at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in the Netherlands, studying in the Large Glass Department for one year. This opportunity was supported by a grant from the Zuid-Afrika Huis. During this period, I participated in international exhibitions and collaborative projects, including Uncut: Feel and Touch in an Unreal World at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam in 2018. Upon returning to South Africa, I completed my Master’s degree at Tshwane University of Technology in 2020, graduating with distinction and cum laude honors.
In 2020, I traveled to Denmark for an artist-in-residence program at the Royal Danish Academy’s Glass and Ceramics Department on Bornholm, which was unfortunately canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to travel restrictions, I was unable to return to South Africa for nine months. During this time, I participated in the group exhibition Samtids Kunst gennem Corona with students and artists from Bornholm. After returning to South Africa, I focused on preparing for my relocation to Belgium to pursue a Master of Arts degree at PXL-MAD. In 2021, I was awarded the Master Mind Scholarship from the Flemish Ministry of Education and Training. That same year, I was selected as a top 10 finalist for the StateoftheArt Gallery Award in Cape Town, chosen from over 600 applicants across South Africa. I completed the Master’s degree in 2022 with distinction and exhibited my work at Exit, held at the Cultuur Centrum in Hasselt. In July 2023, I decided to work full-time in another field to establish financial stability in Belgium and work toward setting up my studio. Despite this shift, I have continued to develop my artistic practice and have participated in exhibitions, including Gegrond in 2024 at the Emile Van Doren Museum, curated by Caroline Coolen and Greet Van Autgaerden.
Currently, I am a doctoral candidate at Hasselt University in collaboration with PXL-MAD Research. My research is funded by the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO), reflecting my ongoing commitment to artistic research.
Exhibitions
2024 Gegrond, Emiel van Dooren Museum, Genk
2023 St.ART the Future Kunstenfestival, Blauberg
2022 Exit, Cultuur Centrum, Hasselt
2021 Stateoftheart competition: top 10 finalist, Stateoftheart Gallery, Cape Town
2020 Samtids Kunst gennem Corona, Bornholm
2020 Innibos National Craft Awards: Top 60, Nelspruit
2019 Earthly Bodies, TUT M-Tech exhibition, 012Central, Pretoria
2019 TUT M Tech Duo exhibition: Freedom Park, Pretoria
2019 She Impressions: Victoria Yards, Johannesburg
2018 The Volume :/ is Out of Space, Nida Art Colony, Lithuania
2018 Uncut, Feel and Touch in an Unreal World, Stedeljik Museum, Amsterdam
2017 I am Rooted, but I Flow, Pretoria Arts Association, Pretoria
2017 Nirox Winter Sculpture Fair, Nirox Foundation, Krugersdorp
2016 Cool Capital Biennale, Saadjies, Gorilla Bienalle, Pretoria, Potchefstoom, Richmond
2016 Glass as Conveyor of Image, Pretoria Art Museum, Pretoria
2016 Diverse, The South African Workers Museum, Johannesburg
2016, 2015, 2014 Thami Mnyele Fine Art Awards: Top 100, Ekurhuleni
2015 Aardklop National Arts Festival, Betwixt and Between, Potchefstoom
2015 Modern Art Projects, Small Temple Monuments, Pretoria
2013 Tshwane University of Technology, Conversations with King, Pretoria
Work in Publications
2024 Gegrond, curated by Caroline Coolen & Greet van Autgaerden
2019 Living Ledgens, Collaboration with TUT, UP and Helen Sibidi
2017 Saadjies, Small is big: Cool Capital Biennale
2016 Craft Arts international No. 96: Dr Gerry King, Lights on the Dark Continent (p53-56)
2015 Modern Art Projects, South Africa: Liesl Roos
