Yasmine Yacoubi and Nina Holmes

Yasmine Yacoubi

Yasmine Yacoubi is an artist with a rich and diverse background, having lived across four continents, which has deeply influenced her artistic journey. Growing up between Dresden and Casablanca, and later living in places like France, Australia, Chile, and presently South Africa, has expanded her sensitivity and connection to the world.

Yacoubi’s artistic exploration began in 1997, and since then, she has continuously honed her skills and techniques, attending various international workshops, including the “Ecole National des Beaux-Arts” in Paris. Her paintings reflect her fascination with the vitality and forces of nature, which she sees, hears, and touches around her.

Emotions are a central focus of Yacoubi’s work, and she draws inspiration from her daily life. Whether it’s the blossoming prune trees or any scene that deeply touches her, she translates these experiences into modern or abstract portrayals on canvas.

Living in Cape Town provides Yacoubi with an extraordinary opportunity to explore the beauty and complexity of nature, which serves as the primary inspiration for her abstract works. Her paintings capture the continuous transformations of her surroundings, reflecting her diverse cultural background and her profound connection to the world around her. Through her art, Yasmine Yacoubi invites viewers to share in her journey of exploration and discovery.

Nina Holmes

Nina Holmes is a Cape Town-based artist who completed her Post Graduate Diploma (2017) with distinction at the Michaelis School of Fine Art. Holmes has had two solo exhibitions with Eclectica Contemporary and was featured in the 2020 Investec Cape Town Art Fair solo section.

The process of altering or intervening to create work is a significant quality of Nina Holmes’ practice and she often includes pieces of material or repurposed upholstery. She likens this process-based approach to “surrealist automatism”, while also allowing for the inevitable influence of found images, photographs and the borrowing of techniques and inspirations from other paintings. Working loosely and around expectations, Holmes’ paintings are never limited to canvas and oil. Instead they push the formal, rigid canon of painting.

Holmes enjoys working on multiple paintings at the same time, with work spread out across her studio in Woodstock. The working process is occasionally accompanied by a grand symphonic soundtrack and sometimes with silence. There is careful thinking and intense working through various influences and concepts.