Born in 1972, South African artist Tanya Bonello currently lives and works in Cape Town. She graduated in 1994 with a Bachelor’s degree in fine arts from Michaelis School of Fine Art at the University of Cape Town. Bonello’s works can be found locally and internationally in private and corporate collections.

Bonello practices with and mixes various mediums, primarily that of gypsum, oil paint, and found objects, also incorporating synthetic silver and gold leaf into her creative process. Bonello explains, “The gypsum and synthetic gold and silver leaf, by virtue of their nature, will continue to transform or change – they are representative of the maxim ‘all is in a state of flux’. The geometry signifies that which we know – the fathomable – whilst the writing appears to be unfathomable as a known language, and as such is representative of that which we do not know or that which we cannot describe in words.”

Inspired by astronomy, history, physics, geology, and astronomy, Bonello’s thematic concerns investigate memory and a universal consciousness. She writes, “In my work, I try to bring to the fore a memory of our collective consciousness through the use of a universal language that is ancient and true and understood by everyone. A language that is beyond words and cultural differences. The geometrical forms of the circle, square, triangle, and grid are vehicles towards this universal understanding, and as such, these timeless shapes operate as a unifying force reminding us that we are all One. Everything is interconnected”.