Artists We Love: Jean de Wet

INTERVIEWED BY Lindi Brownell Meiring IMAGES courtesy of Jean de Wet

Cape Town-based illustrator and artist Jean de Wet chats to VISI about zines, his journey as an illustrator and how nature and the universe inspires his work.

What do you love most about being creative?

I get a lot of energy from experimenting with various things. There is something beautiful about discovering something new, testing it out and finally integrating the results into the larger context of your work.

When did you first start illustrating?

I’ve always loved drawing as a child and would often entertain fellow pupils with characters and caricatures. After my awkward high school phase of drawing and painting I discovered illustration while studying design. I naturally gravitated towards using drawing and unconventional media in my design projects… as opposed to using purely “graphic” elements. Funnily enough, later, it seemed like my drawing style became more and more influenced by graphic design.

Describe your style in three words.

Medieval. Mystery. Sunset.

You say that you’re inspired by nature and the strangeness of the universe. In what way do these two things influence your work?

There is something comical about nature, about how evolution takes place and mutations occur in both animal and plant life. I think it serves as an excuse for me to distort, disfigure and develop elements in my own formalistic frameworks. There is something comforting about how the universe continues to become stranger the more we understand about it. I like to think that with every piece I create, I’m adding to my own personal world / universe. The deeper the investigation, the more questions that arise.

How did you initially get into zines?

Around the time I was discovering underground / indie comics, I noticed that many comic artists self-published their own mini-comics. These were typically small format with anywhere between 16 and 32 pages, photocopied and cheaply made. I found it very inspiring to be able to encapsulate any silly idea in this tidy and easily accessible format. It was also a nice way for me to elaborate on themes and create extensions of my more “finished” pieces. The nice thing about printing and publishing your own work is that it forces you to make a lot of decisions you might not have considered otherwise, and helps steady both your internal and external criticism when creating new work.

Broadcast City.

Which one of your zines did you most enjoy creating, and why?

I typically have the most fun with my own personal anthology zine called Lunar Fog. It is normally just a collection of sketchbook or loose sheet drawings from that particular year. The process of reflecting and curating a selection of random drawings and sketches can be very enjoyable and sometimes surprising results can occur. 

Who would you most like to collaborate with, and why?

Anyone with a good sense of humour and an appreciation for synthesisers. Because laughter is often the shortcut to inspiration and electronic music is fun.

Midnight Matters.

What’s next for Jean de Wet?

I’ve recently signed up with a company called Artist Admin to help streamline and manage my online store shop.jeandewet.com. I’ll be working on a small series of drawings for sale, on a fairly regular basis. Lately, I’ve also been collaborating on some interactive audio visual pieces with my friend and game developer Richard Pieterse, which is a very exciting medium for me, especially as it merges my love for creating art, animation, storytelling and music, all at once.

I’ll also be focusing on creating more publications in the future, since I’ve managed to fix my Risograph printer after about a year of being out of order. It has also been upgraded, so there are lots of new avenues to explore.

Mostly I enjoy learning and experimenting, so I tend to have many irons in the fire. I’m always obsessing over something different.

See more of Jean’s work at jeandewet.com and shop online at shop.jeandewet.com.