Jessica Storm Kapp
Kapp is a creator currently working out of Stellenbosch, South Africa, where she also graduated with her egree in Fine Arts. Originally from Knysna, her current work explores the resonance of home through the uncovering of memories and remnants belonging to certain landscapes. Collecting, identifying, and ordering objects according to their perceived value has long been an interest of hers—a theme found throughout her work. As such, the themes that interest her are informed by her own experiences.
Her work seeks to investigate whether dirt, debris, found objects, and traces of dwelling can evoke multi-sensory experiences of place. She uses objects retrieved from the untouched natural environment of Knysna, after the town was devastated by fires in 2017. Viewing this experience through the phenomenological lens of her own subjective viewpoint, she seeks to create visceral experiences of home through her work. In doing so, she shows how art acts as a vessel through which the ambience of home can be represented. Reconstructing fragments of found objects, her work alludes to concepts of loss, trace, attachment, and reflection. Her process allows her to physically re-see and reimagine these spaces and sense
of belonging.
She uses print making techniques paired with sculpture and installation to render new articulations of space, exploring her own identity through the process of discovery. Therefore, her work acts as a map, recording and cataloguing her journey to understand and explore her own notion of place and identity construction. She has participated in multiple group shows in Stellenbosch and was recently chosen as the 2018 winner of
the Sasol New Signatures competition.
Awards
- 2018 Sasol New Signatures Competition, Overall Winner
Fine Arts Award, Fine Arts Department, Stellenbosch University
Solo Exhibition
- 2019 Artefacts of Belonging , SASOL New Signatures Solo Show, Pretoria Arts Museum.
Group Exhibitions
- 2019 Home Ground, Dyman Gallery, Stellenbosch
- 2018 Forward? Forward! Forward…, Stellenbosch University Museum
Graduate Exhibition (GRADEX), Stellenbosch University
SASOL New Signatures exhibition, Pretoria National Art Gallery
(un)earch, Gallery of University Stellenbosch (GUS) - 2017 Nyoni, Stellenbosch University
Press, Publication
- 2019 https://www.heraldlive.co.za/weekend-post/your-weekend/2019-05-18-knysna-fire-disaster-insp
red-sasol-new-signatures-winner/
https://www.knysnaplettherald.com/News/Article/General/knysna-new-signatures-winner-s-newexhibit-
looming-201905161120 - 2018 https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/life/arts-and-entertainment/2018-09-05-reflection-on-knysnafires-
sasol-winner/
https://www.stellenboschvisio.co.za/2018/09/stellenbosch-student-wins-sasol-new-signatures-20
18/
https://citizen.co.za/lifestyle/2002307/a-real-feather-in-her-kapp/
