Self-taught artist from Linmeyer Dalila de Matos (56) was born and raised in Johannesburg.
She majored in architecture and the history of art but at a later stage, she decided to pursue her dream.
“I didn’t always want to become an artist, but I was always a creative child. Art was something that crept into my life and it became really important to me and my journey,” she said.
Because of her background in architecture and interior design, she worked in the field for about 10 years and later decided to quit.
“I was married and fell pregnant while I was working on sites. I found it very difficult because I was pregnant and I couldn’t take it anymore. After I gave birth I decided to take a break,” said de Matos.
For a couple of months, she decided to leave the field completely and pursue her career of becoming an artist.
“Being an artist brought me joy. My artistry assisted me to communicate with people and also helped people to communicate with me.”
De Matos’s work reflects her interest in matters that relate to humans in a social, political and environmental context in South Africa.
She is known for her colourful, textured, and layered mixed media works. Her process involves layers of text/collage, texture and paint. This inspires a dialogue about issues that directly affect the artists, people and environments she is in a relationship with.
“I aim to produce work that is contemporary, contextual, and appears deceptively simple but is not. It is the choices made at each layer that informs the next and that allows me to process my emotions and thoughts on the matter or situation concerned,” she said.
She does, however, participate in the occasional workshop to develop new ways of thinking.
“I consider myself primarily an experimental artist in that the process of producing art is as important as the emotions or the subject that inspires it.”
Many artists throughout history have been an inspiration for her. The likes of Goya, Vic Muniz and Kentridge are currently her strongest influences.
“I have participated in over 38 group exhibitions and been honorably mentioned at the GTC Portrait Awards in 2018. I have also been featured in four issues of the South African Artist Magazine, recently with her work titled Local Fare that was purchased to hang on permanent exhibition at The Worker’s Museum in the Newtown Precinct,” she said.
She has had a very successful two-person exhibition at Upstairs at Bamboo.
Nationally, she has participated in the Thami Mynele Exhibition in 2013 and 2018. Her work is part of corporate and private collections, both locally and abroad.
Her biggest goal with her paintings is to take them nationally because she paints about people in South Africa.
“I paint about the issues that affect our lives. I would like people to know South Africans as we are. I paint people for the people,” said Delila.
