Here, Stander is busy working on a piece for her new solo called ‘Life is a stage and we’re all merely players.’ According to stander, the pieces are very theatrical, bordering on Shakespearean. The solo also moves slightly out of Stander’s signature style, as it is more colourful than her usual black and white charcoal drawings. PHOTO: Tyler Setzer
Originally from the small town of Outeniqua, George, this now Jamestown-based mother of two has become one of the country’s most iconic and beloved creatives. Easily recognisable, Marié Stander’s unique charcoal drawings are nothing short of iconic. With not an air of pretension surrounding her, this unassuming artist has managed to skilfully sketch her way into the hearts and homes of South Africans.
Marié Stander believes imagination and a flair for the artistic runs in the family. Given her two “extremely creative” parents and the fact that her younger brother, Frank van Reenen, is now a well-known sculptor, this has proven true.
Even from young, Stander remembers experiencing a strong creative urge.
“I would always make stuff. I made anything from dolls, to puppets, to stages where they performed. Oh my word it never stopped…I was always creating, every single day,” she says.
Due to growing up with six other siblings around her, when Stander started grade one, she already knew the basics of reading and writing. This led her to feel quite bored in class, she says.
“I was always put in the back of the classroom with a big newspaper sheet, and I had to draw the news,” she says.
Fast-forward ten years and Stander enrolled to study fine arts at Stellenbosch University, where she eventually specialised in figurative and portrait work.
“I went there as a novice, coming from a small town, and then just developed very well during varsity,” she says.
Stander was inspired by critically acclaimed British artist, Paul Emsley, who happened to be one of her lecturers at the time. According to Stander, she ended up sharing a studio with the icon during her university years.
“He gave me the whole of his space, his studio, so I could continue with figurative and model work. Even when I was in my third and fourth Honours year, which was interesting,” she says.
According to Stander, she never re-starts a portrait, and she always finishes. A question people often ask is how long it takes the artist to complete a work, but Stander says she can never fully say. “I am quite unaware of how long I work because I take until I’m finished. So, for me, it’s just that the process is so nice that I’m not bothered by how long it takes,” she says. However, according to Stander, a good portrait normally requires a month to complete. PHOTO: Tyler Setzer
The inspiration behind it all
According to Stander, few genres of art give her as much satisfaction as portrait or figurative work.
“The face tells so much. And the whole emotive value of figurative and portrait work for me is so much stronger than the other art forms,” she says.
It is this human element of portraiture – as well as the stories behind the people she meets – that inspires Stander’s work.
“I love to hear people’s stories. And once I have heard their stories, I become fascinated with them,” she says. “I am definitely a people’s person. I get a lot of energy from people,” she adds.
For Stander, it is all about knowing who a person is before attempting a portrait of them. In fact, it can sometimes take as long as ten years before Stander feels confident enough to begin drawing someone.
“For me to draw the outside shell is quite easy – it’s the soul that is my challenge. And for that I need to know the person,” she says.
According to Stander, she has received many meaningful and heartfelt reactions to her work, but one she really remembers fondly comes from Archbishop Bishop Desmond Tutu – a role model of Standers. The portrait of the Bishop was requested by Tygerberg Hospital. “His reaction to the portrait was so incredibly endearing. You could see from his heart [that] it touched him so much. In the portrait, he is bending down to a little boy in a wheelchair, so it was a very special moment,” says Stander. PHOTO: Supplied/Instagram_Marié Stander
“Marié has tremendous passion for what she does. If you are talented and passionate, you have to be successful. I also think her subject matter is very well chosen,” he says.
According to Rick, one of his favourite artworks by Marié is ‘Abie Johnny’ – a Jamestown local with a tragic story.
Abie used to sell lemons to the Standers and was once an upstanding, respected member of the Jamestown community. However, his life changed for the worse when he discovered his wife had cheated on him. This pushed him to attempt suicide by drinking rat poison.
“It did not work, but only turned him into a mumbling vagrant. He lost everything, including his home, and slept outside until he died of flu because of the winter cold,” says Rick.
Here we see a copy of the portrait of ‘Abie Johnny’. An artwork that is a favourite amongst both Stander and her husband. PHOTO: Tyler Setzer
The art of giving
Stander needed to fully support herself once graduated, as her father also needed to put her other six siblings through university. This led Stander to pursue the educational route of fine art studies.
“I wasn’t really keen on doing it, because I wanted to concentrate on my art, and those days, art students looked down on [those] who did the educational as extra – as if they were not good enough artists,” she says. “But I started teaching, and you know what, I just loved it from day one,” she adds.
After many years of teaching and lecturing at various schools, in 2000, Stander decided to open her own art school from home – The Marié Stander school of Art.
One year after the school’s establishment, in 2001, Stander decided to host an auction of her and her students’ art in aid of charity.
“I knew there was just such a huge need for us to sponsor so many institutions that needed money at that time,” she says.
According to Stander, she remembers telling the auctioneer that she would be thrilled to make R25 000. By the end of the evening, they had made a whopping R65 000 – more than double what was anticipated.
“What we did with the money was so special, so I realised that this is something I should not stop,” she says.
It was then that Stander made the decision to host the charity auction every year.
“We buy school clothes, we send kids on educational tours, we take sports teams out, we do all sorts of stuff with the money. It’s quite a lovely event,” she says.
Stander’s annual auctions have become “a beacon of hope and inspiration,” says Nelis Koegelenberg, principal at PJ Olivier Art Centre in Stellenbosch. Koegelenberg met Stander in 1985, when they were both registered students at Stellenbosch University.
“We have the honour to host her annual students’ Art Exhibition in the main building of the PJ Olivier Art Centre,” he says. “We share as fellow artists and enthusiasts, the passion for expressing our aesthetic endeavours and [both] strongly believe in the upliftment of the Stellenbosch-surrounding communities,” he adds.
Moreover, according to Koegelenberg, Stander is a flagship financial sponsor of the Art Centre.
“Ons Mense” is a series of two books comprising of copies of charcoal drawings of Jamestown locals by Marié Stander. The images in the books were sent to writers and poets from all around South Africa, who were then asked to write something to accompany a specific visual. The first book was dedicated to Stander’s sons but also to the community of Jamestown, where the family has lived all these years. According to the artist, the idea for the first book came about during a December holiday with the family, when everyone had to share their resolutions for the upcoming year. PHOTO: Tyler Setzer
Ungeneric genes
Stander has two sons, Simon and Lukas, aged 23 and 20 – who have both inherited their mother’s creative abilities.
“My oldest son is an amazing designer, and Lukas is more a fine artist, like me,” she says.
According to Stander, due to Lukas’s keen eye for photography, he often shoots the photographs she draws from.
“The photographs he takes for me are usually styled and conceptualized by [myself]. I try and avoid using images that he takes on his own terms because I feel it is already an artwork. I don’t want to necessarily spoil it by using the image for my art,” she says.
According to Lukas, he has always looked up to his mother, who has inspired his own exploration of the arts.
“One thing my mom told me that I will never forget is not to change my style of work to please others. There are always going to be people who are not fans of your work and that’s ok,” he says.
Despite the one or two unavoidable critics, Stander still absolutely loves what she does, calling it “the best thing ever.”
“My work is really about creating And somehow when people see my work – it uplifts them. It makes them feel better. I think that being an artist is probably one of the finest professions,” she says.
Stander believes that artists in South Africa have a large role to play in the upliftment of society. “I think South African’s are creative people naturally – there is a lot of creativity in us,” she says. According to Stander, she believes South African artists should share their talents more with underprivileged people and communities. PHOTO: Tyler Setzer