The canvases of Ina van Zyl present details of human bodies, flowers, plants and everyday objects, and the muted tones she uses confer an incredible plastic density and power. She is also an author of graphic novels, and her work testifies to the paradoxes of South Africa, her native country.
Born in 1971 in Ceres, Ina van Zyl trained at the fine arts school of the University of Stellenbosch. She published her first comic strips in the magazine Bitterkomix, a South African comic launched in 1992. In 1995, she left Africa for the Netherlands, through the Thami Mnyele grant, funded by the Dutch Ministry of Culture, which allowed her to occupy a studio at De Ateliers in Amsterdam from 1996 to 1998. Since then, she has continued with her polymorphous body of work, through drawing and watercolours or painting, and collaborations with various international magazines. Her work has been presented by the Onrust Gallery in Amsterdam, since 2004.