Bastiaan van Stenis

Artist Bio

Born in South Africa on the 24th of June 1981, a self-taught Post-Apartheid South African artist is a descendant of the renowned 19th Century English painter John Thomas Baines. Bastiaan, of half Dutch, half South African descent, grew up in Cape Town, South Africa, where in 2000 he began to fully dedicate himself to painting and commenced exhibiting his work, an endeavour that he continues to this day.

Bastiaan’s work is identifiable through his unique use of colour and texture and the artist provides audiences with a reflexive view of the world. His is an oeuvre that compels us to look and look again as he contradicts distinct, yet inextricably linked subjects through a montage of techniques and sound draughtsmanship.
His paintings are expressed using a diverse range of tools and mediums including paint, cloth, encaustic wax, hair, glues and collage. In his own words, “What drives me is the process, the creating, and the creation itself is just another stop on the way.” His other projects include taxidermy, sculpture and composition of music.

Bastiaan’s recent work is an unpredictable assembly of visuals inspired by nature. Bastiaan van Stenis imaginatively meditates on his surroundings and gives us a brief yet unwavering narrative of the environment and the animals and humans that inhabit this space. The artist relays a multiplicity of meaning through his paintings where diversity is reflected in each work. His exploration of materials echo the duality of urban and rural landscapes and his un-division of human and animal forms are transparent.

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