Qualifications
BA (FA) (PU for CHE) 1982
HDLib (PU for CHE) 1984
Hons B Bibl (UNISA) 1998
Psychology III (UNISA) 2004
Adv Dip Visual Art (UNISA) 2006 (Cum Laude)
MVA (UNISA) 2011 (Cum Laude)
Selected Solo Exhibitions
Richmond Loop, multimedia artwork in collaboration with New Music composer Michael Blake, screening at The Neelsie Cinema, Stellenbosch. November 2024.
Disrupt, Spier Arts Trust, Union House, Cape Town. August – September 2021.
Disrupt II, Old Wine Cellar, Spier Wine Estate, Stellenbosch. November 2021 – April 2022.
Uproot, RK Contemporary, Riebeek Kasteel. February 2020.
Archiving loss and longing, festival artist at the Woordfees, Stellenbosch. March 2018.
Rupture, special project at 1:54 African Art Fair, London. October 2018.
The body of the book, Orafrica, Paris, France. April 2017
Solo shows as part of Solo Studios event, Hoofstraat Conceptual, Riebeek Kasteel. Annually from 2016 to 2024.
Public artworks
House in my head (2024), collaborative mosaic project with Spier Arts Trust, Unisa Science Campus, Florida, Johannesburg.
The Stone Circle Project (2020), public sculpture installation and community project at the Royal Hotel Amphitheatre in Riebeek Kasteel.
Counting Stones (2017), found boat, stones collected from various sites in South Africa, Hermanus Old Harbour.
Slide (2017), found wooden shelves, Eucaluptus bark, mutton cloth, Nirox, Cradle of Humankind, Gauteng.
Selected Group exhibitions
For(Sea)Change, group show by ThePrintingGirls, AVA Gallery, Cape Town. October – November 2024.
Proximity, Unisa staff show, Unisa Art Gallery, Pretoria. September 2024.
Ellipses: approximations to a voice, curated by Jean Dreyer, Johannes Stegmann Gallery, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein. July 2024.
Amongst other things, The Labyrinth Project, Gqeberha. April 2024.
artwords, curated by Jean Dreyer, The Gallery, Glen Carlou, Western Cape. September – November 2023.
MESH, with Gwenneth Miller, Colleen Alborough and Mandy Conidaris. RK Contemporary, Riebeek Kasteel. April 2022.
The Troubled Archive, The Labyrinth Project, Ellis House Art Studios, Johannesburg. May – June 2021.
Tribute, curated by Elfriede Dreyer at the KKNK art festival, Oudtshoorn. March 2019.
Feast your eyes exhibition, Nando’s, Nottinghill, London. July 2018.
Spier Arts Trust Group show, Nando’s booth, 1:54 African Art Fair, London. October 2018.
Forward …, Stellenbosch University Centenary Exhibition, Stellenbosch Museum. December 2018.
Booknesses, FADA Gallery, University of Johannesburg. March 2017.Winter Sculpture Fair, Nirox, Cradle of Humankind, Gauteng. May 2017.
100 Geographies, hosted by the Society of South African Geographers, Stellenbosch University Art Museum. September 2016.
African Art Book Fair at Dak’Art Biennale. Exhibiting artist’s book installation entitled 100 ways to long for a home; and present a paper on the work at the AABF. May 2016.
Academic interests
External writer for 2 study modules, third level Visual Arts Students, Unisa. September to November 2024
Presentation of a course titled Art & Concept, to mentees of ThePrintingGirls, Johannesburg. March 2023.
Presentation of a course on Photography and Concept, Hoofstraat Conceptual, Riebeek Kasteel. April 2023.
Presentation of two lectures on four artists’ exhibitions as seen at the Venice Biennale 2022. Hoofstraat Conceptual, Riebeek Kasteel. October 2022.
External examiner of MVA student, Unisa. 2021.
Contract lecturer in Visual Arts, UNISA, Cape Town based. 2008 – 2015.
Collaborations
House in my head (2024), public mosaic installation, collaboration with Heinrich Joemath and Hammered rocks Mosaic Studio and Spier Arts Trust.
Richmond Loop (2023), multimedia collaboration with New Music composer Michael Blake.
Points of Departure (2022), collaboration with photographer Rudolph Willemse and curator Elizabeth Miller Vermeulen.
Solo Studios (2020), collaboration with painter Jenny Parsons.
The Stone Circle Project (2020), collaboration with The Artery, a youth collective residing in the Riebeek Valley.
Awards
Recipient of the Medal of Honour for Human Sciences and the Arts awarded by the South African Academy of Science and Arts. July 2022.
Nominated for a KykNet Fiesta prize in the Visual Art category for Archiving loss and longing, Woordfees, Stellenbosch. 2018.
Art works included in collections
SA Embassy, Beijing, China.
Spier Collection
Nando’s UK
Nando’s Head Office, Johannesburg
Art Bank Johannesburg
Rustenburg Civic Centre
Potchefstroom Museum
Potchefstroom University
KunshuisRK, Riebeek Kasteel
Private collections in South Africa, Europe and USA
Master’s thesis
The phenomenon of displacement in contemporary society and its manifestation in contemporary visual art (2010 - 11)
Abstract: https://uir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/4343
Full document:
https://uir.unisa.ac.za/bitstream/handle/10500/4343/dissertation_willemse_e.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
