Bastiaan van Stenis (b. 1981) lives and works near Cape Town, South Africa.

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“Every painting I do starts with a feeling, a want, a need from deep inside me.”

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Bastiaan van Stenis does not paint about things. The moments that appear through layers of paint with nuances and proportions that surprise are pure and honest. His painting technique is considered and intense but revels in the freedom of seeing what happens next. A good painter has to be good at solving problems on the canvas – a challenge that Van Stenis enjoys. He veers toward the unexpected then carefully steers it back to somewhere slightly more sensible. The result leaves the viewer intrigued and with a sense of adventure.

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Bastiaan started painting at an early age and became a fulltime artist soon after he left school.