GRADY ZEEMAN

South African artist Grady Zeeman’s abstract, figurative, and portrait paintings address femininity, gender equality, strength, and identity. After marrying into a South African farming family, the lifelong artist felt pressure to put her identity aside to be a mother and wife. However, she soon realized that her need to create was an important part of her identity and independence, therefore she rededicated herself to being an artist, and discovered her passion for feminism in the process. This journey had a major influence on her work, and the themes she introduces to her viewers.

Zeeman works in oils and mixed media in order to create flow, depth and textural elements to add to her narrative and aesthetic. Employing muted backgrounds, she lights up her canvases with vibrantly colored forms in elegant, striking poses. The artist has exhibited her work extensively, showing major cities in the United States, the UK, Western Europe, Asia, and Africa.

In order to achieve one’s fullest potential, it is often necessary to let go of old beliefs and tribal restrictions that keep one from growing. “The hardest thing to learn in life is which bridge to cross and which to burn” David Russel BUY ON ART-MINE.COM

Prayer, 2023

Oil on canvas

27.5” x 27.5”

$2750

“Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul. It is daily admission of one’s weakness. It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart.” - Mahatma Gandhi BUY ON ART-MINE.COM

“The wound is the place where Light enters you” - Rumi; During times of devastating loss, it would be easy to be angry and blame God, but when one allows the light of love to shine through, true healing can begin.

When visiting the grave of a loved one, it is Jewish custom to put a small stone as sign of visitation and memory on the grave. The act of “showing up”, “being there” is just as significant to the living, for it is sometimes all they need.

Though growing up I was surrounded by dynamic women in my family, I too allowed myself to be molded by society once I got married. My life as a fashion designer in Cape Town and that of a farmer’s wife were incompatible, leading to depression and the manifestation of different illnesses through the years.

Only when I gained knowledge in the field of emotional energy and spiritual connectivity, did I manage to heal my body and start to live a fulfilling life being true to myself. I learned that all physical matter was connected to spiritual energy; that emotional pain registers in the brain and manifests as physical pain in the body. All emotions have different frequencies and the low frequencies of negative emotions and limited beliefs have a devastating effect on the body.

Art has become part of my healing process, for each painting is part of my own journey, whether through direct experience or a life lesson that I learned by observing my environment. As I am telling my own story, as well as that of so many other women, it is only fitting that I paint female portraits, each with added symbolism on this healing journey. My work is characterized by melancholy with underlying aspects of spiritualism. My preferred medium is oil, though I start with a thin layer of acrylic. The color palette is mostly connected to energy healing, with the layers and texture symbolic of the emotional layers and difficulties we face in life.

As I am passionate about history, politics, and social matters, my desire is that my work inspires others to heal by changing fear-based belief systems into those of hope, love, and abundance. In the words of Rumi: “ The wound is the place where Light enters you”

ORIGINAL GRADY ZEEMAN ARTWORKS ON

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