Lorraine van Wyk

‘Human is my canvas. Although my portraits are photographs, I prefer to call them paintings as my impasto painting style prevails. I use a variety of materials and processes in each painting. My aim is to draw deeper meaning from my subjects, transcending language and cultural barriers by portraying archetypes through their own story.’

Lorraine van Wyk’s artistic style is contemporary portrait photography combined with impasto style paint on her human canvas.

Born in Cape Town, South Africa, she left in the late 90’s to travel as an international fashion model. She moved back to South Africa in 2015 and decided to focus her attention solely on her creativity and independent style as an artist rather than being the face of another’s vision.

Largely self-taught and fine-tuned in many disciplines thanks to her involvement in the fashion industry and interest in museums and culture, she also attended short courses in various cities across the world. She developed her technique further as a photographer, stylist, set builder and painter. Lorraine sets her subjects up herself before painting and photographing them, aiming to execute the portrait within an hour.

Her subject matter has ranged from archetypes to nations, to musicians, to conservation, and nature. She has a deep love of music and has collaborated with many musicians including commissioned album covers.

Her work appears in private collections in England, Japan, Netherlands, Portugal, and Germany.

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