KYLIE WENTZEL | STRAY

Exhibition Statement

Kylie Wentzel’s desire to break away from artistic conditioning has led her to explore mediums outside of her formal training. Now mostly conquering large canvases with acrylic paint, her style is graphic and intuitive, often mimicking her loose lino-cutting techniques. She gathers her inspiration from the natural and constructed environments around her, kitsch prints, strong smells, imported goods for sale on a hot city pavement, passing faces, and Tipp-Ex text scribbled on derelict alley walls. Kylie’s work examines the social fabric of Durban’s “locals only” spaces with deft touch. 

Her work bears what the artist calls remnants of this influence, which she explains are evident in the “distinctive borders and using them to contribute to the narrative, mark-making, combining picture and text, [and] black and white bold graphics”. Wentzel’s aesthetic is intentionally loose and naïve, with a sense of raw immediacy that is also apparent in her subject matter: She is inspired by her surrounding environments – both natural and constructed – and the creatures, objects, smells and scribbles that inhabit, adorn and mark these many spaces. 

Stray features Wentzel’s works from the last few years, both seen and unseen. The collection of works exemplifies the Durban beachfront, as well as the intimate urban environments, both spectacular and mundane. Wentzel’s oeuvre playful engages with the contrasts between these settings, with her works alternating from the likes of stylised portraits to beach towels. 

Whilst Wentzel’s practice is centred around her experiences of the Durban landscapes, there are shared similarities between her immediate setting, and that of the Cape Town beachfront. The apartment blocks, corner shops, places of worship, schools and the streets that carry people on their commute in and around the city. This public oasis, wedged between concrete, offers its people softer grounds to step on, making it an ideal place for playfulness, connection and interaction.