2022 Rabbit Artists
Susan Proctor Hume
Susan Proctor Hume
Susan Proctor Hume is a polemical and conceptual artist who is self-taught and started her art career in 2014. Her preferred mediums are ceramic, paper collage, oils, and oil stick. Her work has been exhibited and is collected in USA, UK, France, SA, Australia, Germany & Holland.
Miss Understood: inspired by Paul Smith and Louis Vuitton
Having a background in design and materials, I took inspiration from multi-striped textiles for the rabbits left ear. On the body of the rabbit, I dressed her in charcoal with small logos, using acrylic, metallic paint and beads to create a subtle layered effect. The pink ear is reminiscent of pop art and the red beaded adornment gives a touch of Africa. This piece is meant to be light-hearted and uplifting.
Laurel Holmes
Laurel Holmes
Laurel began working as a fulltime artist in 2012 and is currently completing a Post Graduate Diploma in Fine Art at Michaelis, UCT. Her work is driven by a fascination and deep concern with the natural world – its intuitive intelligence, richness, and beauty.
The Fynbos Hare/Rabbit
This brown and white Rabbit title is Lepus indigeni. Lepus means hare and I have made up the word indigeni, for indigenous. Refers to the Cape Hare or the indigenous fynbos that I have printed from.
Moon Hare/Rabbit
As with many depictions of animals in art, the motif of rabbits and hares has a long history rooted in religion and folklore. In both Eastern and Western art history, the rabbit or hare often represents much more than a simple depiction of the animal. Lunar calendars are often regarded as integral guides for determining an individual’s family background, future prosperity and even telling of their individual character. The hare or rabbit has been a long-held symbol of rebirth, commonly taken to represent the moon.
2021 Rabbit Artists
Susan Proctor Hume
Susan Proctor Hume
Susan Proctor Hume is a polemical and conceptual artist who is self-taught and started her art career in 2014. Her preferred mediums are ceramic, paper collage, oils, and oil stick. Her work has been exhibited and is collected in USA, UK, France, SA, Australia, Germany & Holland.
Title Rabbit 01: Cupboard Love
The Cupboard Love rabbit is sitting in a field of sea grass and marine vegetation, she is calm and considered. The materials used for adorning this sculpture include paper, ink, acrylic and oil paint. Whilst cleaning an area near the right eye, some thinners dripped down the rabbit’s cheek creating the idea of a tear falling down her face, I decided to leave it as I subscribe to the notion of art creating itself.
When studying the writings of Ivan Pavlov, I came across the concept of classical conditioning. The idea is that all learning occurs through interactions within the environment, and that environments shape behaviour. The work I did on this rabbit carries my hope that its sale will contribute to funding The Thinking Fund. This will ultimately create an environment for young students to receive the platform to build a career in the arts.
Title Rabbit 02: Miss Information
Miss Information has two distinctly different ears, glitter hands and eyelashes, and is aesthetically informed by the upbeat designs of USA designer Betsey Johnson. I find it interesting that a rabbit was the sculpture of choice for this assignment, and I am acutely aware of the use of rabbit fur in the fashion industry, which is similar to the abuse of geese for their down. Not every consumer acknowledges these ongoing crimes against the natural world. Miss Information is tarted up and ready to party but is she really “thinking” or is she enjoying her egocentric life at the expense of our environment and at the expense of other sentient beings?
My thoughts wandered to the actual production (or mass production) of the rabbit sculptures and thinking of the many thousands – if not hundreds of thousands of these specific rabbits that were manufactured in Asia. The white collar and cuffs contrast with the multi-coloured top that the rabbit is wearing to create a sense of the old school or old fashioned trend that makes a comeback every other season. I really enjoyed adorning this rabbit and would happily have it as a permanent fixture in my own home. The material I used for this rabbit was enamel and varnish.
Nicolette Geldenhuys
Nicolette Geldenhuys
Nicolette Geldenhuys focuses on printmaking, but she works across media, incorporating collage, painting, and drawing, to produce varied edition work. She is a part of The Printing Girls, an all-female printmaking collective, and she has exhibited at various galleries in Mpumalanga, Gauteng, and Cape Town. Nicolette’s work conjures up dreamlike states of searching and being. She’s been heavily influenced by her surroundings since moving to Kommetjie almost 3 years ago and the local fauna and flora that so influences her daily life, has found its way into her work.
Title: Scarlet Algae
Being presented with The Thinking Rabbit as a canvas, her algae prints made from seaweed and algae she sourced on Kommetjie beach and printed on handmade paper, became the veiny skin of the rabbit, both representing this beautiful place the Kommetjie artists call home, and Nicolette’s work.
Lindsay Quirk
Lindsay Quirk
Lindsay Quirk runs her own Printmaking Studio at Imhoff Farm, Kommetjie. She is a specialist in reduction colour woodblock printmaking and copper plate colour etching and her art practice includes teaching printmaking classes to adults.
Title: The Thinking Rabbit
Lindsay has used the title of this project as a point of departure. Her creative process almost always begins with some form of handwork, cutting, building, stitching, or knitting; the rhythmic motion of her hands allows her into a place of meditative thought.
Loyal to the china shard theme that runs through her work, elements of previous explorations in this field have been incorporated and reinvented. These have been abstracted, spliced, and laminated onto the lower part of the work, along with other references to her craft.
The Thinking Rabbit has been partially embellished, elevating it above a merely decorative object, yet acknowledging its original state. Suspended from the rabbit’s paws, hangs a Fair Isle knitted panel illustrating this thought process. At first, literal and decorative elements, but as the panel evolves, deconstructed imagery and symbols come into play, creating a narrative. The Thinking Rabbit is positioned on a plinth (a totem) weathered flotsam of the ocean. The plinth references the shard concept – jetsam: broken, discarded, lost, and perhaps forgotten.
Laurel Holmes
Laurel Holmes
Laurel began working as a fulltime artist in 2012 and is currently completing a Post Graduate Diploma in Fine Art at Michaelis, UCT. Her work is driven by a fascination and deep concern with the natural world – its intuitive intelligence, richness, and beauty.
Title: Alice: Down the protea hole
Laurel delves into biophilia and the idea that when the connection with the natural world is severed or denigrated, we lose something of ourselves. This concept has motivated the treatment of the rabbit “canvas” to remind us of aspects that we should not forget. If we see, we will be reminded.
Gill Allderman
Gill Allderman
Gill is a contemporary artist using mixed media to create works on paper, canvas, and other formats – and now surfboards! Gill has exhibited locally and internationally and is presently doing a Post Graduate Diploma in Fine Art at Michaelis, UCT.
Title Rabbit 01: Jackson Pollock goes surfing, or is it Jack Johnson
Having some fun with the Thinking Rabbits. Conceptually I have sent them surfing on boards that cannot be repaired and have therefore been upcycled into art works.
Contemporary abstract expressionist artist Jackson Pollock, known for his drip painting technique, found himself leaving New York and spending some time in Kommetjie. Now Kommetjie is known for its surf, flora, and cool music vibes. So, we thought maybe we could extend the title from Jackson Pollock to Jack Johnson, and wouldn’t it be cool if he came to test our waves and play with local musicians Jeremy Loops and Sean Koch? Come on down this way, Jack or buy this crazy rabbit and support a local young person to attend a design academy. Oh, we are hoping you will visit our spot. Anyone know Jack Johnson’s Instagram handle – please forward to him.
Title Rabbit 02: YK
My Yves Klein Rabbit (think Yves Klein’s blue paintings) has been doing some travelling. He decided to leave France, with surfboard, to participate in the Tokyo Olympics. He bombed out. His board smashed in two. Lucky he was in Japan and learned the art of Kintsugi which he adapted to repair his surfboard, but in silver, not gold, as gold belonged to South African gold medallist, Bianca Buitendag. He landed in the small village of Kommetjie, a surfing mecca for those in the know. A bit of a sun worshiper, his Yves Klein blue is a little faded, but he feels this is his new home for now. He is happy to relocate to a new home if the price is right.
Theresa Wormser
Theresa Wormser
Theresa and her studio specialize in functional ceramic art inspired by the textures, forms and colours found in their natural surrounds.
Title: The Golden thread of hope
As a ceramic artist I am interested in the surface texture of an object. The surface of my rabbit is built up with multiple layers of textured paint. A thin layer of tones of grey/green picks up and embellishes the underlying textures, adding surface interest. Streams of gold leaf have been embedded into the texture of the rabbit, representing the paths we take on our life’s journey. These golden streams or paths stand testimony to the glorious victory of hope overcoming strife.
Mariëtte Momberg
Mariëtte Momberg
Mariëtte is an experimental printmaker creating graphic and emotive pieces.
Title: Hoptical
This rabbit sculpture was inspired by Lewis Carol’s classic tale of Alice following the white rabbit down the rabbit hole. During these surreal times, it reflects our disconcerted worldview – equally hypnotic as uncomfortable.
Acrylic and ink.
Joanne Milne
Joanne Milne
Joanne is a painter and is inspired by the natural world. Her style rests between realism and hyperrealism, with a focus on South African flora and fauna, and seascapes.
Title: Rabbit with the Protea Tattoo
This pondering rabbit has been sitting quietly in my studio, sparking a myriad of ideas as to how to tackle him. My aim was to maintain the shape and hint of personality, whilst also adding a bit of me, and my style. I have painted the rabbit a matte black, with realistic eyes, complete with a thin membrane peeking out from the upper lid. On his chest and upper back, I have painted my recognisable protea images, and a wee sunbird on the one ear.
Kristen McClarty
Kristen McClarty
Kristen is fine art printmaker and textile artist. She has spent 2021 developing a new body of printmaking work, woodblock, monotype, and water colour to translate feelings of immersion in a place. This work covers her interaction with the environment of the Cape. Kristen’s textile art practice spans between natural handmade surface design and stitched work.
Title Rabbit 01: Keep dreaming
At the time of printing her current series of woodblock prints, Kristen made impressions on a very fine 12gsm textile, Abaca, which is usually used to rehabilitate valuable books and manuscripts. These experimental pieces have been used to transfer two dimensional woodblock prints onto the rabbit, using collage.
Kristen’s rabbit “Keep dreaming” is a message from the artist: It is never too late to change the course of events, learn something new, pursue a dream, find someone or something to love, or dredge up the energy to remake yourself.
Title Rabbit 02: Under the Great African Sea Forest
By modifying the botanical print process, Kristen was able to transfer natural plant pigment from foraged foliage to lengths of sheer Abaca paper textile. A combination of the invasive Port Jackson and the indigenous pioneer fynbos plant wild rosemary, results in a print reminiscent of being under water, surrounded by swirling, undulating kelp. A similar feeling to diving in the Great African Sea Forest off the Kommetjie and nearby coasts.
Kristen’s rabbit “Under the Great African Sea Forest” is caressed by the shadows of the underwater: layered and natural marks over the scuffed pewter of the base coat. A subtle sparkle of light filtering through the water surface. A reminder of the value of what lies beneath the waters.
Kim Black
Kim Black
Kim Black is a painter with a fascination with colour, florals and interiors, and this is the constant inspiration behind her relentless creating.
Title Rabbit 01: In my mind’s thought
“Wish you were here in my mind’s thought to see what is here, the glimpses I’ve caught”. This an extract from a poem that Kim wrote a while ago that, this year especially, rings true, since Kim’s eyesight has been hindered by cataracts, which until recently, she was not aware of. Although Kim’s eyesight has been restored through operations on both eyes, this rabbit is a reminder that the imaginative vision in the mind is untouchable. An exuberantly painted rabbit that reflects Kim’s abstract floral artwork, embellished with a papier-mâché fascinator.
Title Rabbit 02: Rose tinted glasses
Rose tinted glasses: a phrase that is often associated with a naïve approach to life. I believe that the meaning of this phrase isn’t that one pretends the difficult things don’t exist. But rather that we should approach challenges with a mindset of how can we assist in this world, with our given talents? How can we initiate change for the better? This rabbit is painted with acrylic and oil and wears papier-mâché rose tinted glasses.
Michele Koch
Michele Koch
Michele Koch is a local poster, born and bred in Kommetjie. She is the founder of Love & Lace Ceramics, started 35 years ago. Michele draws inspiration from our beautiful coastal village of Kommetjie, where she still lives.
Title: Cape Times
One afternoon as I was lifting floorboards during house renovations, I discovered layers of newspaper, lining the floors of my old Kommetjie home. The antique Cape Times was dated to 1898! I was completely enamoured by this find and transported back to the era of my grandparents, penny-wheel bicycles and selling sheep in Adderley Street.
I have cherished these vintage papers close to my heart. With the Thinking Fund initiative, I dug inside my archives and decided to give these newspapers a new life. I combined them with antique lace elements that I collected through the years. This piece is an ode to my history and heritage, bringing old and new together in present moment.
Adrian Owen
Adrian Owen
Adrian Owen is a self-taught mixed media artist who specialises in fine art, portraiture, and illustration. He has always preferred the tactility of traditional mediums and a hands-on approach to fine arts.
Title: Anthropocene Androgyny Lepus Veritus
She/He was difficult to name. He/She was a calculated and yet intuitively raw deconstruction of agitated acronyms and modern symbolism which are the embodiment of the pervasive dichotomy and flagrant hypocrisy of our modern zeitgeist. The piece is a stark departure from my most recent body of work which focused on drawing out beauty, which plays a large part in my practice.
The rabbit was an exercise in paradox; both in its literal creation which involved the deconstruction of the material, and in terms of its narrative and intentional persona which are a calculated and yet random act of contradiction. The one ‘golden ear’ is contrary to the other. The life breathed into the blank resin mould is in stark contradiction to the targeted prey which they/them/it becomes on its birth from innate object to considered testimony of our infinite paradigms. “Anthropocene” relates to the current epoch of environmental decay and destruction, viewed as the period during which human activity has been the dominant influence on climate and the environment.
Beth Lowe
Beth Lowe
Beth is a plein air painter working from life, trying to capture the essence of the moment and light.
Title: On the Brink
This is my visual and emotional response to the green spaces in my village being invaded by development, as is presently happening on the Kommetjie Main Road. The patch of prickly pears is inspiration for my three dimensional painting, as it is in itself ‘on the brink’ and will possibly only remain as history. I painted this piece en plain air, standing at the edge of the cleared area, with the milkwood and prickly pear thicket before me, capturing the distinctive shape and prickly defence of the plants, that may have been here for a hundred years. Between me and the prickly pairs, the cleared sandy area bears the sign “No go area beyond fence”.
Nicky Rosselli
Nicky Rosselli
Nicky is a landscape artist working predominantly in oils, watercolours, and mixed media.
Title: Karoo Rabbit
One of my ongoing sources of subject matter is the Karoo and the animals that inhabit this space. I was inspired by the highly endangered Riverine Rabbit as well as the Cape Hare and the Scrub Hare which one often sees on inland dirt roads, at night. I wanted to use this rabbit as a vehicle to create environmental awareness of the value of smaller animals in the ecosystem, the loss of habitat and the place they hold in our folklore and language.
Collage, acrylic paint, and charcoal are the mediums I have used to incorporate texture, line, and writing.
Jenny Chadwick
Jenny Chadwick
Ceramic artist Jenny Chadwick teaches and works from their studio, Kommetjie Ceramics.
Title: Ethical Rabbit
“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” Mahatma Gandhi
Meet the Ethical Rabbit who proudly wears the Beauty Without Cruelty South Africa symbol on their back. With sculpted fur and painted eyes and ears, Ethical Bunny reminds us to be kind in our choices.
Eugenie Skelton
Eugenie Skelton
Eugenie is an accomplished ceramicist of more than 40 years’ experience (after a BA Fine Art at Michaelis), having taught and exhibited nationally and worked in several mediums from refined stoneware, raku and smoke fired vessels to her current passion for translucent porcelain paper clay.
Title: The Hare with the Amber Eyes
My rabbit is based loosely on the ivory netsuke hare immortalised in the book of the same title by Edmund de Waal. Not only is the author an extraordinary writer but a celebrated potter/ceramicist. I feel connections!
I used small pieces of my crack(l)ed raku pots in multiple shades of ivory to mosaic hare’s body, porcelain shards on her face and thousands of tiny porcelain paper clay flakes on her ears. A fine paper clay ‘egg bowl’ containing a feather, reflects my current body of work and may hint that the rabbit is thinking … which came first, the chicken or the egg?
Shaune Rogatschnig
Shaune Rogatschnig
Shaune is a painter in oils, acrylic and water-based media, who explores the dynamics of colour, the symphonies of light and the complexities of texture in her current fynbos and abstract landscape series.
Title: Unearthed
This piece unveils a landscape, constructed from the ethereal lines of watercolour pencils, the silky lipstick-sketch of gelatos and the variable textures of acrylic. It is a discovering of limitations and coincidence, a reflection of progressive layers, and a nurturing of intuitive marks.
Cathy Stanley
Cathy Stanley
Cathy paints with paper. She picks out a moment and studies it, translating it into paintings and collage.
Title: Jack-in-the-Green
According to English folklore, Jack is responsible for returning life to the forest after winter. Inspired by a song of Jethro Tull’s of the same name, this Jack’s motto is to nurture nature. Sunny sparkly gold leaf inspires warmth and growth, and a paper foliage ear heralds a warning to stop destroying our environment, use paper instead of plastic!
Elizabeth Vels
Elizabeth Vels
Liz is a multi-media artist who has artwork from the 1980’s and 1990’s in major South African art galleries and corporate collections.
Title: Generalissimo Vasco de Kom
Having chosen a rabbit with a missing ear, he has been given graffiti style decorative history as a war veteran ex leader of the Kommetjie Fighting Hares. Hero of many battles and skirmishes for the Kommetjie fynbos and vleiland. Layered and scratched and scarred by life.
I have used a dry point etching technique. Oil paint medium and polymer varnish, ceramic buttons, cloth bandana.
Münnike Geldenhuys
Münnike Geldenhuys
Münnike is a ceramic artist who hand-builds vessels and ritualistic objects from stoneware, earthenware, and wild, foraged clay. Raw, unglazed surfaces with exposed finger marks celebrate the primitive beauty of the humble material used in creation. These tactile manipulations of earthy mud are made to be used, coveted, and passed down as heirlooms. Recently, Münnike has been exploring her obsession with Nerikomi – an ancient Japanese marbling technique that combines different coloured clays by hand to create patterns that can never be recreated. Each piece is truly one of a kind.
Title: The Overthinking Rabbit
Münnike’s modified sculpture is a commentary on how we so often get distracted by thoughts of past and future, while potentially missing out on the immeasurable magic happening all around us and within us – right here in the present moment.
A marbled arch has been handcrafted from 4 different kinds of clay, and against it stands the rabbit, which has been painted with environmentally-friendly chalk paint to mimic the colour, texture, and earthiness of Münnike’s beloved medium. This versatile art piece can either stand alone or be mounted against a wall.
