Nicky Marais

Opening Houses on Black 1, Nicky Marais, drawing

2022

Opening Houses on Black 5, 2022. Coloured pencil on black paper, 20 x 20cm Nicky Marais (b. 1962) is a Namibian artist, educator and activist. Marais is well-known for her abstract artworks created using a personal vocabulary of abstract forms and colour relationships derived from everyday life as well as the socio-political history of Namibia and icons from around the continent. These forms are often layered using a mixture of stencils and traditional painting techniques. Marais describes her practice as a “constant hunt for significant shapes”, which are subjected to a process of near-obsessive repetition, appearing multiple times in different combinations. Much of her work explores the relationship between physical and spiritual worlds, which extends into an investigation of the relationship between the tangible and the intangible, the signifier and the signified. Speaking about Marais’ work, Rosa Namises said “Sometimes we are trapped between the gates and the snakes. We have to choose to go through the path of knowledge, to learn what the snakes have to teach us, and not allow ourselves to be trapped by the gates” (2017). Marais is recently retired from an eleven year posting as the Head of Department of Visual Arts at the College of the Arts in Windhoek. As an artist, she has exhibited extensively in Namibia and abroad. In 2017, The National Art Gallery of Namibia hosted a solo exhibition by Marais, titled ‘Presence in Absence’. Her next solo ‘Connections‘ was held at Guns & Rain Gallery in Johannesburg in 2020. Most recently in 2022, the artist participated in the Baker’s Bay...

Opening Houses on Black 2, 2022. Coloured pencil on black paper, 20 x 20cm Nicky Marais (b. 1962) is a Namibian artist, educator and activist. Marais is well-known for her abstract artworks created using a personal vocabulary of abstract forms and colour relationships derived from everyday life as well as the socio-political history of Namibia and icons from around the continent. These forms are often layered using a mixture of stencils and traditional painting techniques. Marais describes her practice as a “constant hunt for significant shapes”, which are subjected to a process of near-obsessive repetition, appearing multiple times in different combinations. Much of her work explores the relationship between physical and spiritual worlds, which extends into an investigation of the relationship between the tangible and the intangible, the signifier and the signified. Speaking about Marais’ work, Rosa Namises said “Sometimes we are trapped between the gates and the snakes. We have to choose to go through the path of knowledge, to learn what the snakes have to teach us, and not allow ourselves to be trapped by the gates” (2017). Marais is recently retired from an eleven year posting as the Head of Department of Visual Arts at the College of the Arts in Windhoek. As an artist, she has exhibited extensively in Namibia and abroad. In 2017, The National Art Gallery of Namibia hosted a solo exhibition by Marais, titled ‘Presence in Absence’. Her next solo ‘Connections‘ was held at Guns & Rain Gallery in Johannesburg in 2020. Most recently in 2022, the artist participated in the Baker’s Bay...

Opening Houses on Black 6, 2022. Coloured pencil on black paper, 20 x 20cm Nicky Marais (b. 1962) is a Namibian artist, educator and activist. Marais is well-known for her abstract artworks created using a personal vocabulary of abstract forms and colour relationships derived from everyday life as well as the socio-political history of Namibia and icons from around the continent. These forms are often layered using a mixture of stencils and traditional painting techniques. Marais describes her practice as a “constant hunt for significant shapes”, which are subjected to a process of near-obsessive repetition, appearing multiple times in different combinations. Much of her work explores the relationship between physical and spiritual worlds, which extends into an investigation of the relationship between the tangible and the intangible, the signifier and the signified. Speaking about Marais’ work, Rosa Namises said “Sometimes we are trapped between the gates and the snakes. We have to choose to go through the path of knowledge, to learn what the snakes have to teach us, and not allow ourselves to be trapped by the gates” (2017). Marais is recently retired from an eleven year posting as the Head of Department of Visual Arts at the College of the Arts in Windhoek. As an artist, she has exhibited extensively in Namibia and abroad. In 2017, The National Art Gallery of Namibia hosted a solo exhibition by Marais, titled ‘Presence in Absence’. Her next solo ‘Connections‘ was held at Guns & Rain Gallery in Johannesburg in 2020. Most recently in 2022, the artist participated in the Baker’s Bay...

Opening Houses on Black 7, 2022. Coloured pencil on black paper, 20 x 20cm Nicky Marais (b. 1962) is a Namibian artist, educator and activist. Marais is well-known for her abstract artworks created using a personal vocabulary of abstract forms and colour relationships derived from everyday life as well as the socio-political history of Namibia and icons from around the continent. These forms are often layered using a mixture of stencils and traditional painting techniques. Marais describes her practice as a “constant hunt for significant shapes”, which are subjected to a process of near-obsessive repetition, appearing multiple times in different combinations. Much of her work explores the relationship between physical and spiritual worlds, which extends into an investigation of the relationship between the tangible and the intangible, the signifier and the signified. Speaking about Marais’ work, Rosa Namises said “Sometimes we are trapped between the gates and the snakes. We have to choose to go through the path of knowledge, to learn what the snakes have to teach us, and not allow ourselves to be trapped by the gates” (2017). Marais is recently retired from an eleven year posting as the Head of Department of Visual Arts at the College of the Arts in Windhoek. As an artist, she has exhibited extensively in Namibia and abroad. In 2017, The National Art Gallery of Namibia hosted a solo exhibition by Marais, titled ‘Presence in Absence’. Her next solo ‘Connections‘ was held at Guns & Rain Gallery in Johannesburg in 2020. Most recently in 2022, the artist participated in the Baker’s Bay...

Opening Houses on Black 8, 2022. Coloured pencil on black paper, 20 x 20cm Nicky Marais (b. 1962) is a Namibian artist, educator and activist. Marais is well-known for her abstract artworks created using a personal vocabulary of abstract forms and colour relationships derived from everyday life as well as the socio-political history of Namibia and icons from around the continent. These forms are often layered using a mixture of stencils and traditional painting techniques. Marais describes her practice as a “constant hunt for significant shapes”, which are subjected to a process of near-obsessive repetition, appearing multiple times in different combinations. Much of her work explores the relationship between physical and spiritual worlds, which extends into an investigation of the relationship between the tangible and the intangible, the signifier and the signified. Speaking about Marais’ work, Rosa Namises said “Sometimes we are trapped between the gates and the snakes. We have to choose to go through the path of knowledge, to learn what the snakes have to teach us, and not allow ourselves to be trapped by the gates” (2017). Marais is recently retired from an eleven year posting as the Head of Department of Visual Arts at the College of the Arts in Windhoek. As an artist, she has exhibited extensively in Namibia and abroad. In 2017, The National Art Gallery of Namibia hosted a solo exhibition by Marais, titled ‘Presence in Absence’. Her next solo ‘Connections‘ was held at Guns & Rain Gallery in Johannesburg in 2020. Most recently in 2022, the artist participated in the Baker’s Bay...

Opening Houses on Black 3, 2022. Coloured pencil on black paper, 20 x 20cm Nicky Marais (b. 1962) is a Namibian artist, educator and activist. Marais is well-known for her abstract artworks created using a personal vocabulary of abstract forms and colour relationships derived from everyday life as well as the socio-political history of Namibia and icons from around the continent. These forms are often layered using a mixture of stencils and traditional painting techniques. Marais describes her practice as a “constant hunt for significant shapes”, which are subjected to a process of near-obsessive repetition, appearing multiple times in different combinations. Much of her work explores the relationship between physical and spiritual worlds, which extends into an investigation of the relationship between the tangible and the intangible, the signifier and the signified. Speaking about Marais’ work, Rosa Namises said “Sometimes we are trapped between the gates and the snakes. We have to choose to go through the path of knowledge, to learn what the snakes have to teach us, and not allow ourselves to be trapped by the gates” (2017). Marais is recently retired from an eleven year posting as the Head of Department of Visual Arts at the College of the Arts in Windhoek. As an artist, she has exhibited extensively in Namibia and abroad. In 2017, The National Art Gallery of Namibia hosted a solo exhibition by Marais, titled ‘Presence in Absence’. Her next solo ‘Connections‘ was held at Guns & Rain Gallery in Johannesburg in 2020. Most recently in 2022, the artist participated in the Baker’s Bay...

This highly detailed artwork seemlessly blends acrylic, pencil and colour pencils in a loose style, maintaining a delicate balance between expressiveness and refinement. The distress...

Layers of paint build up this neutral palette where emphasis is placed on minimal composition. From a distance, the painting explores colour fields and geometric abstraction. Closer up, it's about subtle textures, intuitive mark-making, playful scribbles and remnants of colour. The blending of these two elements invites the viewer to experience a calm while stimulating, visual response. To view more of Stajan-Ferkul's artwork, scroll down and click into the box: VIEW ALL FROM SELLER. // Andrea Stajan-Ferkul is a Canadian artist whose work conveys a sense of experimentation through the use of paint, fabric collage and abstract mark-making. While not exclusive to fashion, dresses have been a compositional focus throughout her oeuvre. With an emphasis on timelessness, her series of dress paintings shift between realistic representation and interpretive impressions. In contrast, her series of abstract works embrace minimalism, considerate to a restrained palette and composition. Stajan-Ferkul began her career in fashion advertising before shifting her focus to fine art in 2000. Her work has been exhibited widely through galleries and art fairs, and hangs in private and public collections across Canada, US and Europe. A graduate of Sheridan College of Art and Design, Stajan-Ferkul's paintings can be found in numerous public and private collections, her work has been published in magazines and book covers, and prints are distributed internationally. In 2009, Stajan-Ferkul was invited to exhibit her work in Ottawa’s Rideau Hall, hosted by (then) Governor General of Canada, Michaëlle Jean. keywords: abstract, minimal art...

This is a series of four contemporary abstract paintings. The use of Stajan-Ferkul's distinct neutral palette is carried through into her abstract paintings where emphasis is put on ...

In this delicate small work, the combination of paint, pastel and collage build up an impressionistic scene with the focus remaining on strong composition. Pink and black against a v...

Alyson Borycki is a self-taught artist, creating energetic and playful abstract paintings. Her paintings are inspired by shapes and patterns observed in nature as well as the array o...

This large scale abstract oil painting contains a line based composition over a neutral blue - grey ground, that appears sometimes blue, sometimes violet given the time of day and q...