In this episode, I talk with Cape Town artist Schalk van der Merwe about growing up in South Africa, his journey to full-time artist, process and scale in his works and much more.
From his website: "Schalk van der Merwe is a multidiscipline, visual artist. Born and bred in Cape Town, he went on to study Graphic Design at CPUT. After his studies and fronting indie rock bands Heavy Petals and Polaroid, Schalk was headhunted to join advertising hot-shop, The Jupiter Drawing Room as a junior art director. He left the advertising industry 15 years later as an International award-winning Art Director and later Creative Director to pursuit his Art. Schalk’s visceral portraits have a directness about them, yet are underpinned with a tangible fragility. Ambiguous features can morph from immense beauty into utter despair, with hints of the eyes breaking the surface beneath layers of paint, charcoal, turpentine, expressive brush strokes and often the physical DNA from the artists' fingertips. His work explores the concept of taking the mind out of the creative process to allow for more honest expression. His art captures a vast range of emotions and often provokes a strong reaction from the viewer. “My work is not reliant on a cognitive process. I believe overthinking can destroy originality."
IG: @svandermerwe
Find us on all your favorite platforms including:
Apple https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...
Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/7oz5s3N...
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/lofipod
IG: @lofipod https://www.instagram.com/lofipod
This episode is sponsored by https://www.nohwaveacademy.com/
For a limited time: