NIEL JONKER


Stllness, and the art of wondering about the house.

I usually work in a rather structured manner, placing objects on the broad white-washed window-sill of my studio, or my eye will fall on a random scene in the house, but always I remain driven by the study of light. Thus, a seemingly mediocre object such as the latch on a sash window becomes elevated to the level of beauty through contemplation and handling.

I have paid homage to the legacies of painters such as Frans Oerder and Jan Vermeer whose atmospheric depictions of simple objects and ordinary scenes are handled with such feeling and sensitivity that the work absolutely radiates with life and light.

The poetic handling of simple objects brings life to the bare ordinariness of spaces in the artists’ centuries-old Cape farm cottage.


Image: Left Marmite, oil on canvas, 35x35 cm 2006
Image: RightTea light, oil on canvas, 35x35 cm 2006



Image: Left Seepbakkie, oil on canvas, 2006, 30x40 cm
Image: Right Candles, oil on canvas, 2006, 50x40 cm


Image: Left Bovril, oil on canvas, 25x25 cm 2007
Image: Centre Krom Calitzdorp Koffiebeker, oil on canvas, 30x22 cm 2007
Image: Right Bottel Boplaas, 30x22 2007


Image: Left Female, oil on canvas, 30x30cm 2007
Image: Right Male, oil on canvas, 28x35 cm 2007

Image: Left Radiotjie, oil on canvas, 25x25cm 2007
Image: Right Worcestersous, oil on canvas, 25x25 cm 2007