Willemien de Villiers (b. 1957, Pretoria) is a Cape Town-based artist whose work spans writing, painting, ceramics, and, most notably, textile art. A graduate of Fine Art from the University of Pretoria, her practice is deeply influenced by Louise Bourgeois's idea of art as "restoration" — a way to repair life's damages and make something whole from that which is fragmented.
De Villiers uses soft, mutable cloth, often sourced from domestic settings via thrift shops and friends, as the foundation of her work. She subverts the traditionally female task of stain removal by deliberately using substances like red wine, turmeric, and coffee, embedding personal and collective histories into the fabric. Her primary medium, cotton thread, acts as both a physical and figurative tool for connection. Using colours inspired by the body—pinks, reds, browns, and off-whites—she stitches through and over the stained fabric, tying together the visible and invisible. This intricate process speaks to the lived experiences of women, acknowledging the traumas enacted upon them while simultaneously performing an act of healing and restoration. The interwoven warp and weft of the cloth, combined with the running stitch, serve as powerful metaphors for connection and repair.
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Willemien de Villiers (b. 1957, Pretoria) is a Cape Town-based artist whose work spans writing, painting, ceramics, and, most notably, textile art. A graduate of Fine Art from the University of Pretoria, her practice is deeply influenced by Louise Bourgeois's idea of art as "restoration" — a way to repair life's damages and make something whole from that which is fragmented.
De Villiers uses soft, mutable cloth, often sourced from domestic settings via thrift shops and friends, as the foundation of her work. She subverts the traditionally female task of stain removal by deliberately using substances like red wine, turmeric, and coffee, embedding personal and collective histories into the fabric. Her primary medium, cotton thread, acts as both a physical and figurative tool for connection. Using colours inspired by the body—pinks, reds, browns, and off-whites—she stitches through and over the stained fabric, tying together the visible and invisible. This intricate process speaks to the lived experiences of women, acknowledging the traumas enacted upon them while simultaneously performing an act of healing and restoration. The interwoven warp and weft of the cloth, combined with the running stitch, serve as powerful metaphors for connection and repair.
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