Artists We Love: Maria Magdalena van Wyk

INTERVIEWED BY Malibongwe Tyilo IMAGES Adam Mays STYLING Lauren Sarah Crulci

Since completing her B.Tech in Graphic Design from Port Elizabeth’s Nelson Mandela University back in 2010, Maria Magdalena van Wyk has been working as a packaging designer in Cape Town.

In 2014, she launched a collection of limited edition fine art prints, which led to her being chosen as one of Design Indaba’s Emerging Creatives in 2015, and receiving invitations to be part of several exhibitions.

She has now launched a ceramics range, which she sells through her eponymous company, Maria Magdalena. We caught up with this rising illustrator.

You’ve managed to expand your work from packaging designer to exhibiting illustrator. Please tell us a bit more about that process.

It all happened quite naturally. I am the senior packaging designer for a small company in Woodstock where I work with MasterChef, Accessorize and Brabantia. My freelance clients required a lot of digital and hand-drawn illustrations. Last year I decided to launch my first limited edition fine art print collection. It escalated quite rapidly when a few blogs picked it up and when I was chosen as an Emerging Creative for Design Indaba. At Design Indaba, I placed an emphasis on selling original framed drawings with my 100 Tiny Originals project, after which I was invited to exhibit in New York, Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban. I am currently focusing on original artworks for exhibitions, commissioned originals and extending that into a homeware range.

What can we expect from the homeware range?

We are starting with an exclusive range of ceramics, textiles and wallpaper. My focus for 2016 is to expand the homeware range. Each piece will be inspired by my Tales of Table Mountain exhibition of original ink drawings, watercolours and suminagashi contour studies. The homeware collection curated by Dylan Thomaz will launch at my upcoming solo exhibition on 5 November 2015 at Studio Dylan Thomaz.

How did you get into ceramics?

I have always adored ceramics. My mother took me to pottery classes when I was a little girl and I was lucky enough to have ceramic and sculpture classes at university. I joined a ceramic studio in the Bo-Kaap last year. My one rule with ceramics is to never have much of a plan. It is the one place in the world I can use my hands to create beautiful objects and make as big of a mess as I possibly can with paints, majolica and lusters.

How would you describe your illustrations?

I seek an elegant simplicity through a complex series of intricately hand-drawn lines in my illustrations. In a society consumed with technological advancement lies a refreshing beauty in the simple stroke of black ink on paper. They are timeless pieces that require a skilled hand and a patient heart. Each piece has a story that inspired it, a poem or lyrics from a song. Drawing relaxes my overactive mind and I love escaping the city to go draw in nature, especially near mountain ranges.

Who are some of your favourite illustrators?

I absolutely adore the work of Aubrey Beardsley, Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele. Their expressive line work has always inspired and influenced me. I greatly admire contemporary illustrators such as Ryn Frank, Beth Emily, Geffen Refaeli and Jake Weidmann.

What are you working on at the moment?

For the past three or four months I have been working on my abovementioned solo exhibition, Tales of Table Mountain. It is a series of contour studies in ink, watercolour and suminagashi. Each handcrafted piece will transport you away from your busy life to that place of deep, inner calm we often only find in nature. As you wander through the artworks, you will see the aesthetics of each piece strike that precarious balance between the minimalist and abstract. The series of original line drawings are an ethereal interpretation of all the secrets and wonders on Table Mountain – from the wild protea to the Verreaux Eagle.

Keep up with Maria Magdalena at mariamagdalena.co.za or on Instagram. Tales of Table Mountain opens on 5 November 2015 at Studio Dylan Thomaz, 142 Buitengracht Street, Cape Town.