My favourite place growing up in Mpumalanga, South Africa was the Madjadjana land, a piece of bushland on the family farm. I can easily recall the hip-high ochre grasses, feeling them brush against my legs, the smell of the dry heat rising up from the red soil, and the sting of thistles as I made my way along the narrow footpath down towards the river.
These encounters with nature instilled in me a deep sense of identity, embedded in relationship with the natural world. I strongly believe in a collective consciousness, a universal bond of sharing that connects all forms of life. I have sustained this connection with the natural world by regularly spending time in the Australian bush, studying the rich Australian flora and fauna, and sharing these meaningful experiences in my paintings.
Along with my connection with nature, I have an infatuation with interiors. A favourite painting series of mine, The Billabong Boudoir, was inspired by a trip to Europe and the UK just before COVID hit in 2020. Returning home to Sydney, my mind was spinning with staircases, French doors, and Persian carpets. So much beauty to incorporate into my Australian surroundings…
Two decades earlier in 2004, my husband and I moved with our young family from South Africa to Australia. It was a deeply challenging experience, and it took me a long time to feel settled, to know that we belonged and that Australia was also home. I made the wonderful discovery along the way that it is possible to have more than one home, and that one can maintain strong relationships with friends and family across different continents. These processes of integrating and connecting different worlds became apparent in my art practice.
The intention behind my artwork is to create places of beauty, wholeness, and boundless imagination. You will often find a jabiru or saddle-billed stork wading across a formal lounge, or a flamingo dosing off on a staircase. Through finely-tuned composition, line, and colour, my aim is to create a visual narrative that presents a settling of the external in the internal. A joyful cohabitation of the domestic and the natural world.
I work and live currently on Darramurragal country and am inspired by the rich traditions of story telling and thoughtful custodianship of the Darramurragal people.
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Exhibitions:
2024 Stories and Stitches - The Shop Gallery, Glebe NSW, with ceramicist Clare Unger
2024 The Affordable Art Fair, Sydney, with The Toowoomba Gallery, QLD
2024 The Affordable Art Fair,Melbourne, with The Toowoomba Gallery, QLD
2024 The Affordable Art Fair, Brisbane, with The Toowoomba Gallery, QLD
2024 The Grammar Art Show, Toowoomba, QLD
2023 The Affordable Art Fair, Melbourne, with The Toowoomba Gallery, QLD
2023/2 Group Shows - Rochfort Gallery, Sydney NSW
2022 Tails and Fables - Solo Show at Purple Noon Gallery, Windsor NSW
2022 Pattern and Place - The Shop Gallery, Glebe NSW, with ceramicist Clare Unger
2022 The Affordable Art Fair, Sydney, with Rochfort Gallery, Sydney NSW
2022 Contemporary Collective - Inverell Art Gallery, Inverell NSW
2022 At The Table - Grainger Gallery, Canberra ACT
2021 Objets de la Vie - Grainger Gallery, Canberra ACT
2021 Summer Salon - Purple Noon Gallery, Windsor NSW
2021 Contemporary Still Life - Inverell Art Gallery, Inverell NSW
2020 Artists at Home - Rochfort Gallery, Sydney NSW
2019 Bloody Beautiful - Rochfort Gallery, Sydney NSW
Awards:
2023 The Next Big Thing Art Prize (Highly commended)
2017 Lane Cove Art Prize (Highly commended)
2016 Waverley Art Prize (Highly commended)
Finalist:
2024 The Grammar 150 Art Prize
2023 Lethbridge Small Scale Art Award - Salon De Refuses
2023 The Next Big Thing Art Prize
2021 National Capital Art Prize
2021 Stanthorpe Art Prize
2020 Mosman Art Prize
2020 Gosford Art Prize
2020 BAM Art Prize
2020 Northern Beaches Art Prize
2019 Hunters Hill Art Prize
2019 Hornsby Art Prize
Collections:
Works held in private collections nationally and internationally
Education and Training:
2018 Understanding and Applying Colour - Dr David Briggs, National Art School, Sydney NSW
2019 Painting the figure from life - Sally Ryan, Dairy Creative, Bathurst NSW
2015 Portraiture - Cherry Hood, Goulburn, NSW
1996-2000 Ronzwa Art School, Johannesburg, South Africa
Qualifications:
1992 Honours degree in Mathematics, University of Johannesburg, South Africa
1991 Secondary Education Diploma, University of Johannesburg, South Africa
1990 Bachelors of Arts majoring in Mathematics, English and Afrikaans, University of Johannesburg, South Africa
Teaching experience:
2022 Guest lecturer Hornsby Art Society, Hornsby, Sydney NSW
2019 Guest lecturer Ku-Ring-Gai Art Society, Turramurra, Sydney NSW
2018 Guest lecturer Lane Cove Art Society, Lane Cove, Sydney NSW
2010-2021 Teaching at my studio in St Ives, Sydney NSW