Charlayn Von Solms

Cape Town based sculptor specializing in assemblage.

When I was in primary school my family lived next to the largest air-force base in the country. Impala and Mirage jets regularly, annoyingly, screamed north, taking Death and Destruction to unknowable enemies in far-away places. But, occasionally, a demigod would appear. A spectacle worthy of running outside and staring awestruck at the sky: the mighty C-130 Hercules. A man-made thunderstorm. The deep thud thud thud of its massive engines reverberating through the marrow of your bones.
At the end of the runway and bordering our suburb lay open veld. It was fenced all round with shiny razor-wire loops, decorated at rhythmic intervals with signs bearing skulls, crossbones, and the words DANGER GEVAAR INGOZI.
Beyond this fence, amidst scraggly bushes and trees lived a lone statue. It was of a lion in recumbent pose, resembling the logo on Lion matchboxes.
A steep embankment meant that seeing it from the road was quite difficult. You needed an elevated position, like a seat on a school bus (not those yellow American ones, but a bare metal box on balding wheels).
One specific seat enabled maximum statue-viewing ability. Claiming it often meant getting trapped by the friend who transf...

Masters in Fine Art, University of Cape Town
MPhil in Ancient Cultures, Stellenbosch University
PhD in Fine Art, University of Cape Town

4 solo exhibitions (Hermetic Heresies, The Tower of Elemental Memorabilia, A Catalogue of Shapes, and Powell's Patterns 2; 11; 20; 25).
Various group exhibitions.