Wessel van Huyssteen

Biography

Wessel van Huyssteen is a full-time practising artist based in the Free State. van Huyssteen matriculated in 1980 at Voortrekker High School, Bethlehem, Free State. In 1985 he graduated with a BA Fine Arts (Cum Laude for Painting & Drawing) from the Free State University, later graduating with a BA Honours in Art History at Johannesburg University (1990). In 2017 he received his Master of Arts in Fine Arts with distinction from Wits University. Murmurations will be his 6^th solo exhibition.

Photo Credit: Elsa Maritz

Artist Statement

Wessel van Huyssteen in this powerful body of work brings together an exploration into landscape, materiality, and the marks of power left on our environment. Through intricate stitchings and paintings, Wessel invites us to reflect on how politics, capital, technology and craft shape both identity and ecology.

He transforms viscose, nylon, and rayon into complex, hand-stitched terrains. Each piece reveals the marks of power — from industrial farming to global capitalism — embedded in the landscapes we inhabit. These large layered stitchings — cut, sewn, re-sewn, and guided by the artist’s hand — create vivid, disrupted Geographies. The textiles combine repetitive machine rhythms, unpredictable fabric behaviours, and labour-intensive craft to form landscapes that echo politics, identity and environmental strain.

van Huyssteen’s work encourages viewers to consider the visual, conceptual and sensory qualities of his practice – from the imagined rhythm of the sewing machine to the layered surfaces and quiet persistence of craft. It is a powerful encounter between material and meaning that unfolds through attention and contemplation.

Also, part of this exhibition are some oil paintings inspired by Eastern Free State fauna and flora. They act as a counterpoint to the monumental stitchings.

Murmurations

Murmurations