Piece by piece
Artist Karien Myburgh is dedicating an entire exhibition to mosaic art this month
Obtaining her art degree from North West University, East London resident Karien Myburgh has always loved ceramics and tiles.
And to show just how much, she is dedicating an entire exhibition to mosaic art this month.
Running from March 15 at the Ann Bryant Art Gallery in East London the exhibition will see more than 30 detailed mosaic artworks from 18 local artists, including Myburgh.
While there is no specific theme to the exhibition, every piece is created using broken or cut tiles, glass and ceramics.
From beautiful natural landscapes, animals, flowers and birds to emotive works depicting people, detailed, colourful and vibrant mosaic “paintings” will adorn the Ann Bryant Art Gallery.
Set to be a feast for the eyes, this exhibition will feature a range of styles and subject matter and Myburgh is eager to see it all come to life.
Myburgh said her passion for timeless, tiled art was always there, but it was a trip to Spain in 1998 that truly sealed the deal when it comes to mosaic creations. [Weekender cover photograph is of a bench in Park Güell, Barcelona, Spain]
“On my visit to Spain I was blown away by how they use tiles, pebbles and basically any found object to beautify simple things like a doorway, pavements, a small uninteresting wall at the end of an alley.
“It just set my creative spirit in motion. The sky was the limit!
“I did my first floor using broken crockery and off-cut tiles in 1999 and I still love doing it 25 years later,” said Myburgh, 57.
Today, the seasoned artist also teaches others to “paint” with coloured tiles and many of her students will be exhibiting alongside her.
“For me, making a piece of mosaic art is like a meditation, my world gets shrunk to this little piece of glass that has to fit into that little space, everything else fades to the background. Though it is, in essence, a hard medium to work with, the idea of painting with glass, ceramic, or whatever I can stick on a board just makes me happy.
“I use a lot of stained glass, crystal glass and water glass tiles to work with, I’m not a big fan of mirror as a medium,” shared Myburgh who grew up on a farm in KwaZuluNatal.
Farm life or nature in general can be found in Myburgh’s work, but she says inspiration comes from anywhere and everywhere.
“My inspiration comes in many ways, an experience that I’ve had, a memory of someone, places I have visited, really a bit of everything.”
She said, even after all these years, getting the detail right for each of her pieces was always the challenge.
“To me the most challenging part is to get the detail in the art work while working on a relatively small scale.
“Just the other day I made a miniature 15cm x17cm piece that took me 28 hours.
“It is not something you put together in an afternoon,” she quipped.
Though many artists enjoy the process, they often only celebrate the finished product of their efforts, citing this as their greatest reward.
For Myburgh, however, each stage of the process is to be celebrate and admired.
”I love to see the slow unfolding of the art work, 5 square centimetres at a time and then finally the beauty of thousands of minute pieces coming together in one art work.”
The exhibition runs until March 30.