“The Karoo is like a Kaleidoscope, it is ever changing in colour, shape and form”
The Karoo is an inexhaustable supply of inspiration for Lizelle Kruger. A place of kado’tjies (gifts), family history, identity and natural beauty. Her oils on canvas and found objects, large-scale pastels, mixed media and sculptural installations are rich in symbolism and relate to her identity as an Afrikaner woman.
Kruger works from her studio in Cape Town, but takes regular pilgrimages to the Karoo to find new subject matter. With her camera, she captures her models, structures, objects, the light and the landscape in great detail. She uses her photographs as source material for her paintings, often physically pasting together & cropping composite images in order to arrive at the perfect composition from which to start painting.
Lizelle’s current body of work is centred around the Sutherland and Merweville areas, the Tanqua Karoo & The Koup. The artist finds her inspiration on the farms of her late grandfather, where she is constantly uncovering poignant artifacts of a lifetime ago – often rusted and weathered, for the artist, these objects represent the perfect metaphor for the fragile and transient nature of life in these harsh surroundings. The traditional Voortrekker bonnet, which appears in many of her works is a particular feature of her exploration of female identity and culturally prescribed gender roles. These explorations are always linked to the land – that fertile, timeless and demanding mother of our daily needs.
Selected Projects & Exhibitions:
2013 – One in a Million at Salon 91, Cape Town. 2011 – Solo Exhibition of drawings at The Castle of Good Hope, Cape Town; Karoo Kado’tjies, solo exhibition at Salon 91, Cape Town. 2008 – Women in Art at Mondo Arte Gallery, Dubai. 2007 – Summer Exhibition at Oisin Gallery, Dublin. 2003 – Solo Exhibition at the Cape Gallery, Cape Town; 1993 – SANDF Group Exhibition, Pretoria.
SEE PDF:
Karoo Kadotjies (Client Portfolio)