FLEUR DE BONDT
(b.1989, South African/Belgian, lives and works in Johannesburg)
I draw inspiration from Stoicism, particularly the idea that “the obstacle is the way.” Rock functions as the central metaphor within an ongoing body of work. By nature, it is heavy, resistant, and on some scales immovable, yet foundational. Stone has been used to build shelter, create tools, and carve beauty. It embodies both burden and possibility. Conceptually I aim to challenge the myth of Sisyphus, whose endless labor rolling a rock up a hill signifies futility. This work asks: what becomes possible when the rock is no longer punishment, but a symbol that can be accepted, shaped, and transformed through perception?
I have gradually built an archive of photographs of rocks from my adventures - walking the streets of Joburg, kayaking in the UK, climbing trips, by the ocean, or on mountains in Lesotho. These encounters with rock reflect the access that mobility and perseverance have allowed me to experience .
My work continually incorporates elements of surrealism. I insert doors, paths, portals, staircases, beacons, and lines of perspective into organic shapes, creating visual contrasts that signal a path and beckons the viewer’s imagination. By peeling layers of paint from my palette I create skins which I add into my paintings drawing attention to significant parts of the work. The rocks also become places in an architectural sense.
Rock forms recur as metaphors for challenges to be confronted. This exploration is part of an ongoing journey to navigate personal adversity with a chronic, fluctuating disability, shifting from resistance to acceptance, from victimhood to agency. While rooted in lived experience, this inquiry is universal: each person faces their own rock, and radical acceptance can be the key to overcoming.
I draw inspiration from Stoicism, particularly the idea that “the obstacle is the way.” Rock functions as the central metaphor within an ongoing body of work. By nature, it is heavy, resistant, and on some scales immovable, yet foundational. Stone has been used to build shelter, create tools, and carve beauty. It embodies both burden and possibility. Conceptually I aim to challenge the myth of Sisyphus, whose endless labor rolling a rock up a hill signifies futility. This work asks: what becomes possible when the rock is no longer punishment, but a symbol that can be accepted, shaped, and transformed through perception?
I have gradually built an archive of photographs of rocks from my adventures - walking the streets of Joburg, kayaking in the UK, climbing trips, by the ocean, or on mountains in Lesotho. These encounters with rock reflect the access that mobility and perseverance have allowed me to experience .
My work continually incorporates elements of surrealism. I insert doors, paths, portals, staircases, beacons, and lines of perspective into organic shapes, creating visual contrasts that signal a path and beckons the viewer’s imagination. By peeling layers of paint from my palette I create skins which I add into my paintings drawing attention to significant parts of the work. The rocks also become places in an architectural sense.
Rock forms recur as metaphors for challenges to be confronted. This exploration is part of an ongoing journey to navigate personal adversity with a chronic, fluctuating disability, shifting from resistance to acceptance, from victimhood to agency. While rooted in lived experience, this inquiry is universal: each person faces their own rock, and radical acceptance can be the key to overcoming.
Education
2022 1 year, Victoria Yards, Spier Arts Trust
2020 2 years August House studio for cultural impact exchange
2017 1 month, Hazard Gallery, Maboneng Precinct
2017 1 year, The African Arts Trust Studio Bursary Supported by The Spier Arts Trust
Selected Exhibitions & Artfairs
2026 Nandos Creative Exchange, Association of Visual Arts
2026 RK Contemporary
2025 Nandos Creative Exchange Programme, HUB Gallery
2025 Solo Exhibition Lizamore & Associates
2024 TAF Paper
2024 Latitudes Art Fair Spier Arts Trust & Artist Proof Studio
2024 Gallery 2 TPG
2024 Lizamore & Associates, Strauss & Co Woordfees auction
2024 Artroom Summer Salon
2024 Niche, Lizamore & Associates
2023 Spier, Dallas USA
2023 Denzil & Jo World bank PTA
2023 ABSA Champaign bottle artwork
2023 Self run exhibition Gordart
2023 Joburg Art Fair (APS)
Selected Exhibitions & Artfairs (Conitinued)
2021 Julie Miller African Contemporary, Turbine Art Fair
2021 Residency with Spier Arts Trust 2021-2021
2021 Open Studio, An Art Affair, August House
2021 Women's Exhibition, Julie Miller African Contemporary
2021 Cloud-cuckoo-Land, Candice Berman Gallery
2020 Metamorphosis, Lizamore & Accociates
2019 Trailblazers, Lizamore & Associates
2019 Artist Proof Studio, Cape Town, Joburg, Turbine Art
2018 Permanent exhibition of 8 works, Hotel Indigoi, Dubai
2018 Artist Proof Studio, Cape Town, Joburg, Turbine Art Fairs
2017 Beasts of No Nation, 3 man show, Hazard Gallery
2017 Dead Bunny Society, KKNK
2017 The Confessional, ABSA Gallery
2017 Artist Proof Studio, Cape Town, Joburg, Turbine Art Fairs
2016 Exhibit F, SOMA Art and Space
2016 Post-it's, Constitution Hill
2016 Psyche-monotypes, Artist Proof Studio
2016 Rotary, Assemblage
2022 1 year, Victoria Yards, Spier Arts Trust
2020 2 years August House studio for cultural impact exchange
2017 1 month, Hazard Gallery, Maboneng Precinct
2017 1 year, The African Arts Trust Studio Bursary Supported by The Spier Arts Trust
Selected Exhibitions & Artfairs
2026 Nandos Creative Exchange, Association of Visual Arts
2026 RK Contemporary
2025 Nandos Creative Exchange Programme, HUB Gallery
2025 Solo Exhibition Lizamore & Associates
2024 TAF Paper
2024 Latitudes Art Fair Spier Arts Trust & Artist Proof Studio
2024 Gallery 2 TPG
2024 Lizamore & Associates, Strauss & Co Woordfees auction
2024 Artroom Summer Salon
2024 Niche, Lizamore & Associates
2023 Spier, Dallas USA
2023 Denzil & Jo World bank PTA
2023 ABSA Champaign bottle artwork
2023 Self run exhibition Gordart
2023 Joburg Art Fair (APS)
Selected Exhibitions & Artfairs (Conitinued)
2021 Julie Miller African Contemporary, Turbine Art Fair
2021 Residency with Spier Arts Trust 2021-2021
2021 Open Studio, An Art Affair, August House
2021 Women's Exhibition, Julie Miller African Contemporary
2021 Cloud-cuckoo-Land, Candice Berman Gallery
2020 Metamorphosis, Lizamore & Accociates
2019 Trailblazers, Lizamore & Associates
2019 Artist Proof Studio, Cape Town, Joburg, Turbine Art
2018 Permanent exhibition of 8 works, Hotel Indigoi, Dubai
2018 Artist Proof Studio, Cape Town, Joburg, Turbine Art Fairs
2017 Beasts of No Nation, 3 man show, Hazard Gallery
2017 Dead Bunny Society, KKNK
2017 The Confessional, ABSA Gallery
2017 Artist Proof Studio, Cape Town, Joburg, Turbine Art Fairs
2016 Exhibit F, SOMA Art and Space
2016 Post-it's, Constitution Hill
2016 Psyche-monotypes, Artist Proof Studio
2016 Rotary, Assemblage