17 works

The atmospheric landscapes in this collection are the result of applying layer upon layer of watercolours, charcoal, pastels, acrylics, oils and cold wax to canvas. The resultant scenes lie on the edge of recognition, familiar yet strange. Mist, reflected light and shadow half obscure forms, mirroring the undefined terrains of inner experience.

At the heart of the exhibition lies the theme of emotional granularity, i.e., the ability to identify and name nuanced feelings. This skill has been proven to help us regulate our emotions by reducing reactivity in the amygdala, which is responsible for our fight-or-flight response. As such, the exhibited works ask us to notice, when lost within an undefined, nameless feeling, the specific emotional texture of it, its unique grit.

Of particular interest is how words serve as pathfinders in this investigation of the psyche. Do they reveal the true lie of the land, or do they draw
borders around areas that were perhaps better left wild?

Mapping the Inner Landscape constitutes Book 1 in the larger, growing series of works titled Wordstrings — the result of an ongoing fascination with how we use language as building blocks, lenses and symbols in our construction, perception and communication of reality.

The works in this collection were exhibited at the artist's first solo show, hosted by 11 on Windsor Studio in Kalk Bay, South Africa, from 11 to 19 April 2026.

Click to view the collection catalogue.

4 works

In painting the abstract wetland landscapes that constitute Vleimens, the artist purposely engaged with the dark things that hide in the deeper pools of her subconscious. Fear, anxiety, and comparison were confronted and given permission to rot, to disintegrate. The skeletons that remained — the existential questions, identity seeking, and yearning for community — she has come to identify as inherent to the shared experience of being human.

It has been a slow process of dissection and reduction, but one that has borne fecund ground. Like a child wading through reeds to find hidden treasures (fish, tadpoles, waterlilies!), the artist has been exploring her innerscape to discover anew the parts of value. As she does so, the fog starts to dissipate.

The titles of the works in this collection have been borrowed from Delia Owens' novel Where the Crawdads Sing (2018), given its vivid description of wetland-type landscapes, as below:

Marsh is not swamp. Marsh is a space of light, where grass grows in water, and water flows into the sky. Slow-moving creeks wander, carrying the orb of the sun with them to the sea, and long-legged birds lift with unexpected grace—as though not built to fly—against the roar of a thousand snow geese. Then within the marsh, here and there, true swamp crawls into low-lying bogs, hidden in clammy forests. Swamp water is still and dark, having swallowed the light in its muddy throat. Even night crawlers are diurnal in this lair. There are sounds, of course, but compared to the marsh, the swamp is quiet because decomposition is cellular work. Life decays and reeks and returns to the rotted duff; a poignant wallow of death begetting life.

The works in this collection were first exhibited as part of the Open Studios Kommetjie 2025 event.

Stand-alone works are unique in that they do not form part of a larger collection of work but exist as individual statement pieces.

Click to view the collection catalogue.

16 works

For as long as we have had the cognitive capacity to do so, humankind has been grappling with existential questions — Why are we here? Why do we suffer? Why can't we stall, reverse or quicken time?

These elementary questions prove ever the more difficult amidst the growing complexities of the modern world. How should we secure ourselves in this ever-changing tide? Do we look for meaning in everything we experience, accepting the highs and lows all as part of the full human experience? Or do we simply enjoy the good and survive the bad because in the end, everything passes? Perhaps peace lies in accepting these questions, this inner turmoil, as a constant, predictable state. After all, is it not this very ability to respond to life not just instinctively but with both reason and emotion that marks us as human?

Unsteady As We Go is the result of an immersive engagement with these questions. In surrendering to the depth of emotion they evoke, I allowed space for colours, tones, lines and forms to interact of their own accord in the first layers of the paintings. This intuitive process of creating was followed by a more controlled, considered drawing together and balancing of elements. Now, suggestions of depth contrast with superficial mark-making, while pools of rest contrast with bursts of bold energy. Ultimately, the viewer is invited to appreciate the balance that exists amidst the chaos, making their own meaning as they do so.

This collection of 16 works is divided into four series, each consisting of three to five works. The series titles are 'The point of it all', 'The good and the bad', 'A slippery construct' and 'Distilled life goals'.

The collection was first exhibited as part of Open Studios Kommetjie 2025.

Click to view the collection catalogue.