Janet Dirksen

I am a second generation South African of British extraction.After studying and matriculation in Art I went into the Textile Industry as a Textile Designer, and then as a Product Design Manager.

In 2011 I started painting professionally under the mentoring of Pascale Chandler. I held my first solo exhibition in 2015, and again in 2022. I have exhibited in many group exhibitions throughout South Africa.

Working in oils, I paint poetically instead of simply realistically. I aim to express what is not visible, rather than what we can see, or by taking a photograph.

As such my chosen subjects, the sky, the earth, nature and built structures are metaphors for the human psyche. The works are vehicles for contemplation or meditation. Thev create space for the human soirit to reflect and respond to the dreamlike qualities of the landscape. The works uplift us and root us in an environment, a relationship borne of perseverance and toil.