Artists

Strijdom van der Merwe is a South African artist and sculptor born in 1961, who grew up outside Johannesburg. He received his BA in Fine Arts from Stellenbosch University in 1983 and an Honours in Fine Arts from the same institution the following year. He continued his studies at the Utrecht School of the Arts in the Netherlands, the Academy of Arts, Architecture, and Design in Prague, Czech Republic, and the Kent Institute of Art and Design in Canterbury, England. In the early to mid-1990s, van der Merwe lectured in various art subjects at Stellenbosch University, before becoming a full-time artist in 1996.

As a land artist, van der Merwe creates his artworks from materials he finds on site, shaping them into geometric forms that relate to the natural environment. These are ephemeral works and are only recorded through a photographic element. His works on paper are an extension of this, inspired by nature and geometry. Van der Merwe is also a sculptor and often creates on a large scale using natural materials for projects in festivals and commissions. His pieces can be found globally in countries such as Switzerland, Italy, Japan, Finland, and Lithuania, as well as locally, including as public art installations in the Winelands – especially Stellenbosch, where he currently lives and works.