- Raymond John Westraadt
South African painter Raymond John Westraadt brings life on large-scale oil that canvases the vitality of the people, places, and spaces he paints. There is a sense of something living within his realistic works, focusing on a spectrum of muses to express the silent beauty often found in moments in passing. The eyes of his subjects, technically brilliant figurative works, stand out beyond the detail applied, but with the charm and emotion captured in their gaze. Westraadt pays homage to his home in South Africa, exploring identity, culture, and architecture. He reveals an uncanny interplay between flat surfaces, shadows, and lighting. With careful use of light, his audience can see clear points of entry and departure in points of illumination. The gentle energy in his brushstrokes gives viewers the subject's movement as if the lens of a camera mid-movement captured them. The sincerity of his subjects invites his audience to believe in the humanity of people and bear witness to intimate moments that might be overlooked in public moments.
“In making art, I feel, I produce, and I engage. The extension of my being is expressed through my fingertips, through the brush, the paint, and onto the canvas. reaching out to the observer's mind and sense of observation, capturing the attention of any who wants to feel and experience.”