Antoine de Villiers
Painting

For many years I used pen and paper to explore my thoughts, spending hours a day at my journal. Everything changed when I discovered that painting allowed more freedom and clarity to articulate my ideas, thoughts & emotions.

In my work I seek to complement the moments I encounter. I attempt breaking down life to its visual essentials – light, dark, balance, movement, tone. In so doing perhaps I can reveal a new perspective. I enjoy capturing the essence of a moment, telling a story by diversity of color and pattern that the eye and camera cannot see.

I consider a painting complete when the idea I am trying to express matches the thoughts in my mind. Often this process leaves me naked and feeling exceptionally vulnerable. If somebody, while looking at my artwork gets that special feeling of something personal, I'm satisfied. I never experience 'artist block', wondering what to paint, only the dilemma of what to paint next. I wonder how I'll ever find time to capture all the visions going through my head. The more I paint, the more I leave unpainted.

Antoine de Villiers hails from a small town in the, northern part of South Africa called Potchefstroom. Here she developed her natural artistic skills from the day she discovered that crayons could draw on walls and years later she subsequently studied graphics and web design at Potchefstroom University. In 1996 she devoted herself full-time to painting and ran a studio in Stellenbosch.. Here her career got underway exhibiting in the Western Cape area. Soon her works traveled throughout South Africa.

During the following years, she was actively involved in several solo as well as joint art exhibitions countrywide. The end of 2000 saw Antoine traveling to the British Isles where her oil paintings gained international recognition in galleries around Sussex. Soon she was invited to take part in joint exhibitions in London, and solo in Notting Hill. In early 2003, Antoine relocated to the United States where she is presently working on several exhibitions as well as new mediums such as Marble and Metal sculpting.

Antoine's art is an introspectional investigation of her life and thought. Her works have ranged in style from the realistic themes to abstract works, as the stages of her life unfold itself. She finds her inspiration in her surroundings, hence her love for travel, which in turn explains her wide spectrum of styles. Her work embraces the psychological relations of the various facets of a person within themselves, thus she prefers constructing emotional complexity in a solo subject. She leaves no brand of spoken rhetoric on her art, preferring to create an experience that's entirely visual.


Artist Website