Recommended Viewing: Susanne du Toit
Inspiration from South Africans living around the globe.
This vlog is a special treat for South Africans because the reality of emigration in South Africa is that we all too often lose touch with many SA experts in all spheres of life, as they relocate and find success around the globe. In this video, we hear one such expert, artist Susanne du Toit, talk about her work. She primarily focuses on her series "Motherhood" which she exhibited at Felix and Spear in London, 2017. She reveals her insights about her own experience of motherhood and the challenge of her emotions of both herself and her sitters. Her drawings and paintings of her family show her children, from pregnancy through the birthing process. They also record her grandchildren as they grow and change.
Susanne studied for a BAFA at the University of Pretoria, South Africa, then completed an MFA at Massachusetts College of Art Boston, USA, and now lives in the UK. In 2013, after several successful exhibitions, she won the National Portrait Gallery BP Portrait Award First Prize with a painting of her son. Her portrait of author Janette Winterson, now in the NPG, is the commission that came from her award.
It’s also important to mention her rarely-mentioned outpouring of extraordinary pencil drawings on Instagram, which show us her superb ability to capture each subjective gesture and idiosyncratic movement of her subjects. In this vlog, she tells us about the process of traveling to meet the women authors she paints and her recent exhibition and publication of these portraits from Eiderdown books of women authors. As a British/South African artist, I found myself identifying with her life and work, her use of colour and line.
Susanne du Toit's website - https://susannedutoit.com/
Susanne du Toit's Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/susannedutoit2353/
Images used with permission from Susanne du Toit. The artist’s opinions are their own. Audio edits by Dan Dewes. “East West Village” by Tim Garland & Asaf Sirkis.
