Zaan Claassens and the Reflected Beauty of Water

Zaan was born in South Africa in 1970. As a child she moved from Pietermaritzburg to Pretoria, to Rustenburg, to Jeffries Bay, to Stellenbosch, to Harare and finally settled in Cape Town. Zaan's last year of school was spend in Oxford, Ohio as an exchange student. She then returned to Stellenbosch to complete her BA Degree in Graphic Design. She spend the next decade in Northern Alberta before moving to the Island of Saipan for a couple of years. From there, it was back to South Africa and then onto Canada.

Today Zaan splits her time between Cape Town where her home is nestled between mountains and ocean and London Ontario where she enjoys her space next to the Thames River.

"As an adult, I am in love with the detail and beauty of the natural world," Zaan tells us. "There exists a pure love and adoration for the creative process, from first contemplating something beautiful - be it a thought or a thing - to analyzing it, to capturing, reproducing and recreating its essence."

"Nature continues to inspire me and my current focus is on water and light and the interplay between them." The result of Zaan's fascination with the charming, joyful relationship between these to elements are the large scale waterscapes we see in "The Weird and The Wonderful", opening on October 4th. They are powerful, energizing pieces that stand as reminders of genuine beauty and the simplicity of pure joy.

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Small Fish and Treasures - Zaan Claassens

"I find there is so much pain, heartache, suffering, stress, misery, fear, violence, unrest, and horrow in the world that we should make our homes and sanctuaries places of beauty, filled with beautiful art. I hope that those who view my artwork will be uplifted by it," says Zaan.

See the full collection at Westland Gallery on October 4th.
​Hear more from Zaan on her fascinating life and work at our artist talk with Liana Russwurm on Wednesday October 12th at 7:00 pm.