Artist & Inspiration

I hold the Namibian landscapes of my childhood deep and clear in my memories. They are places of being and belonging that shaped my soul. My new collection, Sacred Earth, honours these landscapes, which became part of my inner soulscape. It tells the story of Earth and her elemental and creature companions, as well as how being in communion with Earth rejuvenates her and us. It also calls for a deeper humanity and understanding that we are not separated from each other or the earth – our outer surroundings are reflected by our inner states.

As humanity lays claim to more and more of the earth, we are seeing manmade disasters, like the fires in the Amazon, as well as nature sending us strong warnings about climate change. All of this was on my mind when I found myself in a dry Namibian riverbed a couple of years ago. It activated memories of how I as a child I would trek to a riverbed and spend days exploring and collecting pieces that had broken off from the large, rooted body of the land – stones, rocks, twigs and whatever the land gifted me. Many years after that, here I was back in this big-sky landscape again - with its myriad of colours and trembling mirages. Sand, mountains, sky and plants encapsulated in the knowing of how to move through drought – it survived because of its ancient knowing. The olfactory memory of the smell when the first raindrops hit the barren earth. The Sacred Earth collection comes from a deep communication with the Earth, where I consider myself to be more of a conduit than an artist looking for a specific outcome in my designs. I drew on the infinite wisdom of the landscape and the theme of all my collections is art as a healer.

The colour palette of the Sacred Earth collection mirrors the earth tones of the desert landscape as it shifts from dark to light, brown to ochre to red. Interspersed are elements of black, which tells the tale of tall leaping flames. And finally the emergence from the long gone fire reflected in the green traces of rebirth.

The Earth is naturally in a cycle of life, destruction and emergence, but humans have tipped the scale in favour of destruction. Part of the reason for this is our disconnection from the landscapes that hold us, shape us, breath with us. When you deeply reconnect with Nature, the mutual sense of belonging brings healing to the landscape and self. The one nourishes the other.

The Sacred Earth collection follows the footprints of my ancestral landscape’s history and reveals how it’s branded on my soul. It looks at the roadmap nature gives us to look beneath the destruction and find life again. The green speaks of heart and hope. It’s a reminder that Earth is more than just our home. Its ancient landscapes shape our souls and become our inner homes. It gives life, it is life.