- Lakeside artist Johan Steyn creates life-like sculptures to highlight the consequences of human actions on nature.
- Inspired by stories from his grandfather, a former Kruger National Park ranger, Steyn’s work aims to promote nature conservation.
- His Minky collection, featuring 16 different sculptures, serves as a poignant reminder of the need to protect wildlife and the environment.
Using sculpting as a tool for nature conservation, local artist Johan Steyn creates thought-provoking, life-like art pieces to highlight the consequences of human action and inaction.
Catching up with him at his home studio in Lakeside, the artist who is known for his Minky sculptures went down memory lane as he reflected on where his inspiration for nature conservation came from.
“My grandfather was a warden (ranger) at the Kruger National Park, and he used to go out on patrols. When he arrived home my father and aunt were always curious to know what he saw during his patrols in the park.”
Minky
Through adventurous stories told and created by his grandfather’s imagination, the girl Minky and all the animals she interacted with were born and shared with young impressionable minds.
“He told them Minky had come to him at the river, that she spoke to him and those stories he told my father were passed on to me,” says Steyn.
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“To me, the stories are a South African legend of a girl that was in my grandfather’s imagination told to his kids to comfort them. So, I manifested Minky in a different way through sculpting.”
The Minky stories have inspired 16 different sculptures.
“I have already sculpted 16 different pieces such as sea turtles, rhinos and octopuses.”
South Africa
Steyn explains his thought process when creating sculptures of wildlife and people.
“When I do wildlife, I feel very grounded and that I am part of Africa and I’m trying to convey that I grew up in South Africa.”
Most importantly, when creating art, it is to work from the heart says Steyn.
“With human sculptors, I feel that I become the subject and I work from the heart,” he said.
Steyn believes doing sculptures in human form is trickier than other works of art.
For Steyn, the act of sculpting is therapeutic and sometimes spiritual.
“When I create angels I feel as if I’m not touching the ground and it becomes quite spiritual and magical,” he shares. “There are times you feel as if you are not the one sculpting, but that it is done through you and there are no words for it.”
Consequences
With his Minky collection, the artwork makes a statement on the consequences of humans destroying wildlife and the environment, he explains.
“One of the Minky sculptures has her with a rhino calf that lost its mother and what I’m trying to create is a culture that shows consequences.
“If you think about it, what are the consequences of a rhino mother shot to death?”
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The sculptor creates the message that if wildlife is not protected it will end up a myth, as if it never existed.
“When you see it as an adult you think of preserving rhinos for your children and future generations,” says Steyn.
“I’m making a statement that if we as humans don’t do what we are supposed to do that sculpture will just be a myth, which is how I use Minky as an agent for nature conservation.”
With no formal education in art, Steyn grew up playing in his father’s boutique studio.
“My grandfather’s best friend was a painter who suggested my father study art, which he did,” he recalls. “My father became a boutique artist, and I grew up in a boutique studio.”
Engraver
Steyn’s knack for working with different metals and bronze, which he uses for sculpting, comes from his experience working as an engraver.
“When I worked for the Mint (South African Mint Company now known as the South African Reserve Bank) for 13 years, I made sculptures of many coins for many countries,” he says.
“I started at the Mint in 1989 as an engraver apprentice and then I slowly climbed the ranks to chief engraver in 2002.”
Bronze is, however, a very expensive metal to work with, he adds.
“I loved working in metals and that was a nice combination designing coins,” says Steyn.
After different careers, Steyn made the choice to be a full-time sculptor in 2018.
“I packed everything up and moved to Cape Town where I transitioned from oil painting to sculpting full-time.”
For more information on Steyn’s artwork visit his website
