Using unconventional materials to bring art to life

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From Solo Studios Solo 2024, which took place in Riebeek Valley on Women’s Day weekend, we spotted Riaan Van Zyl, and he explained how he makes his art and allows it to spark through the human view. He elaborates on how he uses his art to tell a story and how art is a language on its own. Temo Mpodi caught up with him as he unravelled all that.

What drives your artwork?

I love art and work hard at it. At the moment, I am driven to create storytelling through my art. I work a lot with the concept of motion and movement. With this I try to evoke emotion in the viewer and make them feel enough about the artwork that they themselves create the story and spend some time in front of the work.

Impressive! Your work involves using unconventional materials like old car oil and ink from exhaust fumes. How did you discover these materials, and what drew you to use them?

I love playing with different media. I have been doing this for many years now and loving it more and more. I experiment with a lot of new and interesting things like captured carbon, limestone, anthracite, rust, etc. I try to see how far they can be pushed and used in different forms. I like the alchemy of things.

That’s iconic. Your art often involves deconstructing and re-imagining commonplace ideas. Can you walk us through your creative process?

To tell a great story you have to re-imagine and re-think the world around you. Try to see things in a new and interesting context. For me, at the moment, working with old film, old projectors and cinematography combined with the concept of motion has opened such a new and interesting world.

Where have you exhibited your pieces internationally?

I have been very fortunate to show my work in cities like Munich, The Hague, Paris, Knokke-Heist, New York, etc.

Yes, all creative hubs for artists. What do you want the viewer to see and construct from your work?

Art can communicate like a language without being one. The human experience processes information during narrative construction and during the comprehension of what we see by bringing in rational thought, personal context, and experience. I want my artworks to create a subjective explanation through expression for the viewer.