Mirror Mirror: A Solo Exhibition by Ilené Bothma at Nel Art Gallery
As the Northern Hemisphere is entering the fall season, the African continent celebrates the coming of spring. With all major events happening here in the approaching summer season, art museums and galleries are back with new programming. At Nel Art Gallery, September starts with Mirror Mirror, a brutally honest and emotionally evoking solo exhibition by Ilené Bothma, a talented South African artist with a unique visual approach.
About the Artist
Ilené Bothma is a well-known figure in the creative stage of South Africa. The artist lives and works in Cape Town, treating her fans with unique multidisciplinary pieces, ranging from paintings and sculptures to textiles, photography, and video art. Bothma received a degree in Art at Stellenbosch University in South Africa (BA in 2003 and MA in 2007), continuing her education in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
Ilené Bothma started her exhibiting activities early, during her student years, with her first public displays dating back to 2000. Throughout her artistic career, the artist has participated in numerous art competitions and won many honorable mentions. Her solo exhibitions have been featured at the Turbine Art Fair, the Investec Cape Town Art Fair, and Nel Art Gallery.
The main creative focus of Ilené Bothma lies within the area of unique challenges and intricacies of a woman’s life, from the exploration of intimacy and family to the deeper dive into living through grief and loss. All this is reflected in her insightful, symbolic ‘veiled’ self-portraits and mixed-media art objects.
Nel Art Gallery Presents a Solo Exhibition by Ilené Bothma
On September 4, Nel Art Gallery will open Ilené Bothma’s solo exhibition, Mirror Mirror, which represents the artist’s honest revelation of her emotional struggles through a divorce. In this new show, Bothma invites the audience to immerse themselves in water together with her to experience the enigmatic impact of surrender, passing a boundary, and transformation. The exhibition’s title is not chosen by chance; it explores the water surface’s reflective ability to dive into the deeper levels of people’s self-reflections, transcending objective elements of appearance.
Ilené Bothma drew inspiration from the Snow-White fairy tale to show the impact of social expectations, judgments, and power structures on a woman’s emotional life and self-perception. This way, water is a mirror surface that not only reflects reality but also plays a vital role in distorting well-known images to fuel human vulnerability. The reflective surface also shows a woman’s transformation after fracture, confrontation, and release.