Rosebank artist Kirsten Beets will be among those exhibiting at the Investec Cape Town Art Fair, at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, on Friday and Saturday.
The event is billed as the largest international contemporary art fair in Africa with 100 exhibitors and some 25 000 visitors.
Ms Beets says she was always drawing or making things as a child. She took art as a subject in school and later went on to study fine arts at Stellenbosch University.
“After graduation, I studied 3D animation and briefly worked in that industry but didn’t like having to be in front of a computer the whole day, so I went back to Stellenbosch and studied illustration.
“I thought I would be a commercial illustrator, but I started exhibiting my own work more and more in galleries, and over the past decade, I have found an audience and have been lucky enough to sustain myself as a full-time artist.”
She paints with oils on canvas, board or paper and describes her work as detailed with a dreamlike quality.
“It falls under the banner of imaginary realism which combines classical painting techniques with post-modern narrative subjects that explore the unreal, the unseen and the impossible.”
Ms Beets has exhibited at the art fair since its inception more than 10 years ago.
“This year I am part of a group show with other talented artists such as Andrew Sutherland, Christian Conradie, Kirsten Sims, Micheal Amery, Jessica Bosworth-Smith and MJ Lourens represented by 131 A Gallery. The theme for this year’s fair is ‘Unbound’ with an emphasis on how art can liberate the mind.”
When not painting, Ms Beets enjoys renovating, reading and gardening. She is expecting a baby girl in March and says the preparations have been keeping her busy.
Her work can be viewed at 131 A Gallery or on Instagram @Kirst_b_kind.
Tickets for this year’s art fair are available through Webtickets.
