Santa le Roux
Artist Bio
Santa le Roux was born in Vryburg, North West Province in 1963 and raised in the small town of Sasolburg. She subsequently studied Computer Programming at the Tshwane University of Technology in Pretoria, pursuing a career in finance. Upon retirement, the family relocated to the Cape Winelands and she was free to pursue her love of art, working as a fulltime artist and obtaining a Bachelor of Arts in Visual and Multimedia Arts at Unisa in 2021. Le Roux is currently completing the Honours component of the Bachelor of Arts in Visual and Multimedia Arts.
Le Roux’s art practice is inspired by personal experience and a sense of compassion and mindfulness for others. She hopes that viewers will relate to her work, identifying their own experiences and arriving at personal interpretations. Her art eschews realistic interpretation, focusing instead on depicting spontaneous emotional responses. Within her contemplative works, viewers can discover their own unique subjectivities.
Le Roux’s interests include the intricacies of jewellery design and as an extension of the home, creating beautifully designed interiors.
Artist Statement
Santa le Roux’s work addresses personal existentialist concerns within a South African context. Her experimental art practice involves objects found in the home. These are reconfigured and reconsituted using women’s crafts to comment on her experience.
A concern with the state of the planet led to research on Japanese artists working in the aftermath of typhoons, whereby the artists recover shards of ceramics washed ashore. The fragile porcelain slivers are carefully joined together, creating fragile new works with an entirely different meaning and purpose.
After several robberies in the family home, Le Roux created ceramic plates and bowls. She smashed them in response to the violation of her family’s safe space over 30 years. As in the aftermath of a violent storm, she began to compulsively mend the fragments through stitching, knitting and crochet. Inspired by the Japanese art form Kintsugi which validates past experience by repairs to ceramics using gold and silver, her artworks signify a hopeful future. These artworks include intimate self-portraits as
tranquil pieces of self-reflection.
Exhibitions
- 2022
- Student Art Exhibition, Stables Art Studio, Natte Vallej Wine Farm, Stellenbosch.
- Annual Rotary Art Auction, Laborie Wine Farm and Venue, Paarl.
- 2021
- Unisa Third Year Visual Arts Exhibition (Online)
- 2020
- Student Art Exhibition at Stables Art Studio, Natte Valleij Wine Farm, Stellenbosch.
- 2019
- Student Art Exhibition at Stables Art Studio, Natte Valleij Wine Farm, Stellenbosch.
- 2018
- Group Exhibition at Flambé Art Studio, Franschhoek.
- Student Art Exhibition at Stables Art Studio, Natte Valleij Wine Farm, Stellenbosch.
- 2017
- Group Exhibition at Flambé Art Studio, Franschhoek.
- Student Art Exhibition at Stables Art Studio, Natte Valleij Wine Farm, Stellenbosch.
- 2016
- Student Art Exhibition at Stables Art Studio, Natte Valleij Wine Farm, Stellenbosch.
- 2015
- Student Art Exhibition at Stables Art Studio, Natte Valleij Wine Farm, Stellenbosch.