Hermien van der Merwe

Hermien van der Merwe draws deep inspiration from the indigenous Cape Fynbos surrounding her home on the slopes of Table Mountain in Cape Town. Her walks through the Table Mountain Nature Reserve immerse her in the rhythms, textures, and scents of nature, nurturing a contemplative creative process grounded in her reverence for the natural and spiritual world.

Her paintings explore the effects of fire, wind, rain, and drought on the Cape Fynbos biome. Working intuitively from memory, she translates the landscape’s energy into expressive oil paintings filled with dynamic brushwork and vibrant colour, often on an expansive scale.

In 2021, one of her works was selected as a backdrop for the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway station, with additional large-scale pieces later installed at both stations.

Trained at the University of Stellenbosch, she has been a full-time artist for over twenty years. Committed to raising awareness of the Fynbos biome, she is represented in Cape Town by The Artist Gallery and regularly participates in The Travelling Art Gallery.