ABOUT / ANNAMIEKE ENGELBRECHT
LOOKING
OUTWARD.
OIL PAINTING / SCULPTURE / CAPE TOWN
I work with oil painting and sculpture to explore how we locate ourselves within a universe that exceeds our understanding. Drawing on astronomy, scientific instruments and digital culture, my practice considers the systems we construct to measure, interpret and give meaning to our existence.
01 / ORIGINS
From the screen
to the cosmos.
My earlier work examined identity through the camera and the screen: how we present ourselves, conceal ourselves and negotiate the expectations of others. These questions gradually expanded outward. The relationship between the individual and society became a wider enquiry into humanity’s place in the cosmos. Questions of belonging remain central, now considered across distances and timescales that unsettle our familiar sense of importance.
02 / PAINTING
Order.
Uncertainty.
In my paintings, translucent planes, precise lines and shifting gradients bring geometric order into contact with uncertainty. Built through successive layers of oil paint and masking, their surfaces suggest orbital paths, signals and structures that extend beyond what we can see. References to scientific discoveries sit alongside humour and the contradictions of contemporary life. We build instruments capable of observing distant galaxies while struggling to make sense of the information in our hands.
03 / SCULPTURE
A shift
in perspective.
Sculpture brings this enquiry into physical space. Angular forms and reflective surfaces change with light, viewpoint and movement. Geometry that appears stable from one position becomes fractured or unfamiliar from another, making perception part of the encounter.
04 / AN ONGOING ENQUIRY
At the edge
of knowing.
Across both mediums, I am interested in the gap between the precision of our tools and the limits of our knowledge. Looking outward offers a way to reconsider the scale of our concerns, the assumptions we live by and the improbable circumstances of being here.
