ARTIST STATEMENT
That work takes physical form in the materials I choose. Rooted in a rich sculptural foundation and driven by an insatiable technical curiosity, my practice bridges the boundaries between two- and three-dimensional art. I am drawn to an eclectic mix of materials, from traditional mediums like pastel, charcoal, and paint to unconventional industrial elements such as copper wire, steel wool, staples, and pot scourers. This approach allows me to craft textured works that hover between flat surfaces and sculptural reliefs: surfaces that, much like healing itself, are built up layer by layer, scar by scar. Those scars point to something deeper. I see our current behaviours as echoes of past experiences, traumas, and the cumulative weight of what we've absorbed over time. My art becomes a space to reimagine this narrative: a call to heal, rebuild, and rediscover a sense of self-worth. Working through a piece is, for me, its own act of healing, each stitch, burn, and mark a small negotiation between what has hurt and what can still be repaired. I seek to inspire growth, planting the seeds for healthier mindsets and a deeper connection to both the natural world and society. My ultimate goal is to encourage a profound sense of self-understanding that fosters positive contributions to the world around us.
This healing is not only personal; it is systemic, shaped by the country I call home. I make this work as someone living in a South Africa still finding its footing: it has not been long since apartheid, and our democracy remains young, still learning how to hold the people it was built to serve. The fractures I explore in the body, the barriers of race, gender, and inherited ideology that condition how we relate to one another, are the same fractures I inherited as a South African, and my practice is one way of sitting with that inheritance rather than looking away from it. Healing, for me, happens on both scales at once: in the private work of self-forgiveness, and in the slower, collective work of a nation still rebuilding what was broken and still deciding who it will become. Carrying that weight, both my own and my country's, shapes how I work as much as what I make. Each body of work is a fresh response to the moment. My process is fluid and intuitive, allowing the themes, materials, and techniques to evolve organically. I resist the notion of a singular artistic signature; instead, my practice is defined by its adaptability and responsiveness. This ever-changing approach means my art is in constant dialogue with its time, reflecting the shifting ideas and inspirations that guide me. Just as healing itself is rarely linear, my work resists resolution in favour of honest, ongoing process.
That refusal of resolution is most visible in the contrasts I return to again and again: soft and hard materials, vulnerability and resilience, through which I explore the delicate balance between strength and fragility. By placing forms in vulnerable yet deliberate positions or transforming rigid wire into soft, threadlike gestures, I aim to invite introspection and honesty. Each piece becomes a snapshot of transformation: a testament to the power of adaptability, a marker along my own path toward healing, personal and collective, and a celebration of the beauty found in change.
