Jo Roets

Born in 1979, Jo Roets is a Cape Town-based sculptor, painter and mould maker whose creative career has followed an unusual path. After studying art, production design and film, she spent a number of years working in the South African film industry before moving into tertiary education, where she lectured in multimedia arts for fourteen years.

Although art remained a constant throughout her career, it was in 2017 that Roets made the decision to devote herself fully to her own practice. Since then, she has become recognised for her innovative clay relief sculptures, created using self-drying stone clay and techniques she has refined over many years.

Roets approaches each artwork as an exploration rather than a repetition of an established formula. Her interest in natural history, archaeology, anatomy and the passage of time continues to shape an evolving body of work that balances technical craftsmanship with curiosity and imagination.

Her achievements include winning the inaugural StateoftheART Gallery Award in 2018, presenting her first solo exhibition in 2019, and receiving both the Tollman Bouchard Finlayson Art Award and the Sustainable Arts Foundation Grant in 2021. Her sculptures have since been exhibited extensively in South Africa and abroad and are held in numerous private collections.

Today, Jo Roets continues to work from her Cape Town studio, creating sculptures that celebrate the remarkable textures, forms and stories found within the natural world.

Selected Exhibitions:

Solo Exhibitions:

2022
Murg - Artbox Gallery, Pretoria (May 2022)

2019
Man.tra Mãe (SOTA Award winner Exhibition) - StateoftheART Gallery, Cape Town


Group Exhibitions:

2026
Group exhibition ROOTED at StateoftheART, Stanford, Western Cape

2024
Duende - group exhibition, RK Contemporary, Riebeek Kasteel

2023
Time & Tide Wait For No Man - StateoftheART Gallery, Cape Town

2022
Fabrication: A Message Folded, Moulded and Stitched - StateoftheART Gallery (September 2022)
Between a Rock and a Hard Place - AVA Gallery (August 2022)

2021
Inner Eden - Mok Gallery (March 2021)

2020
Home is Where the Art is - Zeitz Mocaa, Cape Town, 22 Oct 2020 - 10 Jan 2021
Galería Begbie & Coll - Palma de Mallorca, Spain, (Aug 2020)
Rust-en-Vrede Rescue - Group Fundraising Exhibition, Rust-en-Vrede, Durbanville (3 Nov - 9 Dec 2020)
Tiny Treasures, Art B Gallery, Bellville, Cape Town (1 Sep - 31 Oct 2020)
131 A Gallery, Cape Town (26 Aug 2020 - current date)
A Human Experience - The Project Space, Johannesburg (24 September - Nov 2020)
Still Life 2020 - Saronsberg Kunsteater, Tulbagh, (26 September 2020 - Dec)
Committee's Choice (plus one), Art B Gallery, Bellville (18 July - Sep 2020)
Shaping Things - SMAC Gallery, Stellenbosch, (25 May 2020 - 31 July 2020)
Vanishing Act - KKNK, Oudshoorn, (23-29 March 2020 physical exhibition cancelled due to Covid 19 - online exhibition 24 June - 24 July 2020
DOnation - Art South Africa, Mica Curitz Art Consultancy (online auction 1-7 May 2020)
The Grand 5 - Rust & Vrede Gallery, Durbanville (online exhibition, May 2020)
KNOOP/NODUM - GUS Gallery, Stellenbosch, Louis Jansen van Vuuren (Feb - March 2020) Cut short due to Covid-19.
Renaissance - US Woordfees, Dr Debbie Human-Van Eck (Feb 2020)
Summer Sale - Rust & Vrede Gallery - Durbanville (21 Jan - 12 Feb 2020)

2019
Gallery Shop - Imibala Gallery, Somerset West, (15 Nov 2019 - 12 March 2020)
Salon - Nel Gallery, Cape Town, (08 Nov 2019 - Feb 2020)
Coast & Country - Permanent exhibition
Smogasboard - Art Afrique Gallery, Victoria Yards (06 Oct - May 2020)
Art @ Paddagang - Paddagang, Tulbagh Arts Festival, Tulbagh (27 Sep - 26 Oct 2019)
TIAA - Tulbagh Infinite Art Award and Art Group Exhibition, Christo Coetzee Museum & Gallery, Tulbagh (27 Sep - 26 Oct 2019)
Tuin van Digters - Breytenbagh Gallery, Wellington (13 Sep - 30 Oct 2019)
Don't Drink the Milk - No End Contemporary, Randburg JHB (29 Aug-21 Sep 2019)
Weapons of Mass Seduction - Art@Africa, V&A Waterfront (06 Aug - 06 Oct 2019)
Group Solo - Johann van Heerden's Art Gallery, Pretoria (04-31 Aug 2019)
Colours of Clay - Ceramic Exhibition, Hermanus FynArts Festival (07-17 June 2019)
Tiny Treasures - ArtB Gallery, Bellville, Cape Town (15May - 7 June 2019)
Permanent Exhibition - La Galerie, Pringle Bay

2018
Universal Coherence - Art on Avenues, Somerset West (Nov 2018-Jan2019)
Pandora - Breytenbach Gallery, Wellington (Dec 2018 - Feb 2019)
Now & Then - Christo Coetzee Museum & Gallery, Tulbagh (Sep 2018-Jan 2019)
Karnaval - Breytenbach Gallery, Wellington
Ubuncwane - SA Missionary Museum, 20x20 exhibition by ArtB Gallery
AVA Members Exhibition - Association of Visual Arts Gallery, Cape Town
SASA 2018 Members 2 - Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, Cape Town
The Schalkenbosch Barn Group Show– Tulbagh Arts Festival, Schalkenbosch Wine Estate, Tulbagh
StateoftheART Gallery Award Finalist Exhibition, StateoftheART Gallery, Cape Town
Sasol New Signatures 2018 – Pretoria Art Museum, Pretoria
Fibre Art Exhibition Fact & Friends – Nova Constantia, Cape Town
Indestructible – Trent Gallery, Pretoria
Vuleka – ArtB Gallery, Bellville, Cape Town
Tiny Treasures – ArtB Gallery, Bellville, Cape Town
Tollman Bouchard Finlayson Barrel Head Exhibition, Hermanus FynArts, Bouchard Finlayson Boutique Winery, Walker Bay
Fish Out of Water - Everard Read Gallery, Cape Town
SASA 2018 Members 1 - Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, Cape Town
Members Exhibition - Art B Gallery, Bellville, Cape Town
Art in the Park - South African Society of Artists (SASA), Rondebosch Park, CT
Permanent Exhibition - La Galerie, Pringle Bay

2017
Tollman Bouchard Finlayson Barrel Head Exhibition, Hermanus FynArts, Bouchard Finlayson Boutique Winery, Walker Bay
The Chicken Challenge - group exhibition/auction, The White River Gallery, Nelspruit

2004 - 2016
The Chicken Challenge - group exhibition/auction, The White River Gallery, Nelspruit
Talking Strings - CityVarsity, Cape Town. Commissioned restorer of the original 1970's Liewe Heksie, Blommie Kabouter and Kwaai Baba puppets. The restoration work on these characters took about 4 months to complete before the opening of the exhibition.

Donations & Campaigns
The Crown Collection, Give Her A Crown Campaign, Jaguar Experience Centre, JHB (24 Nov 2020 - Jan 2021)
Rust-en-Vrede Rescue - Group Fundraising Exhibition, Rust-en-Vrede, Durbanville (3 Nov - 9 Dec 2020)
The Project Space, fundraising auction, Aspire Art Auctions (Oct 2020)
Hoërskool Jan Van Riebeeck, Fundraising auction (May 2019)

Competitions:
2018 - StateoftheART Gallery Award - StateoftheART Gallery, Cape Town (winner)
2018 - Sasol New Signatures - Association of Arts, Pretoria Art Museum (finalist)
2018 - Vuleka - Art.B Gallery, Bellville (finalist)
2018 - Tollman Bouchard Finlayson Barrel Head Exhibition - Hermanus FynArts, Bouchard Finlayson Boutique Winery, Walker Bay (finalist)
2017 - Tollman Bouchard Finlayson Barrel Head Exhibition - Hermanus FynArts, Bouchard Finlayson Boutique Winery, Walker Bay (finalist)

Which new trends or South African artists do you find inspiring at the moment?
I don't really follow trends. Sometimes one piece from one artist can be more inspiring than a whole body of work. I enjoy variation and observing the creative ways in which artists combine mediums, including technology. Jenna Burchell comes to mind. In a recent collaborative project she recorded the brainwaves of Jaco van Schalkwyk while he was painting. These recording were then 'woven' into the canvas. Once the viewer walks past, the painting sings back the brainwaves of the painter as he was creating the work.

Which South African deceased artist do you most admire and why?
Vladimir Tretchikoff would be my favourite with Alexis Preller close on his heels. I love the vibrant colour use in their work - specifically the use of bluish-green and turquoise tones.

If you could only have one piece of art in your life, what would it be?
It is impossible to choose just one - I'd rather choose three
Tretchikoff's "Chinese Girl"
Gustav Klimt's "The Kiss"
Frida Kahlo's "Self Portrait Dedicated to Dr Eloesser"

Pick three artists who you would be honored to exhibit with – and why
I am in love with the size, the interesting shapes and crazy textures present in Zizipho Poswa and Andile Dyalvane's works. With this also their use of vibrant colours which brings me to Andre Serfontein's work which I've always admired for his use of colour and the way he elongates the human form.

How did you get started? Did you always want to be an artist?
Art has always been a central point in my life. Since my childhood years I dreamt of being a full time artist. My school subjects included ceramics and sculpture at P.J. Olivier art school. After matriculating in 1997, I furthered my studies and obtained a Diploma in Art Direction for film and television as well as an Advanced Diploma in Motion Picture Production Design. Following this, I was involved in the production of art required by the film industry before my lecturing career started. I lectured for 14 years in sculpting, moulding, casting, painting, props fabrication, special effects and prosthetics. In 2017 I quit my day job and since then have been producing art full time.

What are some of the key themes you explore in your work?
I find inspiration from historical shapes and patterns within divergent South African cultures. It is an exploration of shapes and patterns and the relationship between them when they are merged.

What should people know about your art that they can’t tell from looking at it?
A lot of research and design work happens before I start with an artwork that includes patterns and shapes from South African cultures. I love doing this and find it fascinating to learn about various cultures and the similarities between them.

Tell us more about your creative process.
I call my artworks 'light relief". It is created from an air-drying clay medium which is rolled out until paper thin to create a delicate bass relief sculpture. Using unusual sculpting tools such as toothpicks and needles, the damp surface of the clay is scored with indents, holes and incisions. The clay medium is manipulated to be as thin as possible, pushing it to its breaking point and encouraging it to warp in the process. This warping quality is unique to the each artwork and unplanned.

Do you believe an artist should use their platform to influence society? Why?
I believe an artist could (not should) use their art to influence society. Not all artworks will necessarily be created with a significant message in mind. Sometimes a message happens by chance when the process is more important than the final work.

Do you have a favourite or most meaningful work?
I started a portrait painting of my grandmother in June 2017, two weeks before she fell ill and went into hospital. It was my entry for Sanlam Portrait Award 2017 ('Martha Maria' - Acrylic on calico board). A special moment took place when I showed her the completed painting before she passed away five weeks later at the age of 82.
It was so significant to be working on her portrait in between hospital visits. Painting a little line in her eye and seeing that same delicate line when looking at her in ICU.
I worked from two old photographs that was taken when she was 17 years old. At the time she got engaged to my grandfather. My full name, Jo-Mari, is a combination of both their names - Joseph and Maria.

What is your greatest achievement as an artist to date?
Winning the 2018 StateoftheART Award and subsequently my first solo exhibition in 2019 at StateoftheART.

What are your aspirations for the future??
Recently I have started exhibiting in Spain. Future aspirations are to exhibit in more countries and to grow an international audience.