“I think that I had dreams of wanting to be… anything! I wanted to represent something in my life. I didn’t want so many things, but I wanted to be able to say, this is what I did, this is mine.”

In art, as in many other things in life, the journey is often as important as the destination. Wonder Marthinus is living proof of this adage. His journey towards making a life for himself out of art took him  over twenty years, but the intriguing and unconventional experiences he had along the way shaped him and his art in a way that no other journey could have.

From his childhood in the townships to his days as a performance artist, from his time of sleeping on the streets to his years living alone on Table Mountain to his journey through Europe, Wonder’s story is almost a work of art in itself. Striking as his art may be, the artist himself also has the power to compel, and his humble way of speaking does not conceal the true wonder of his stories.

Wonder is currently working from his studio in Woodstock, Cape Town.  He works in reality, time, place and actuality.  His work is created around address, where he finds himself, his surroundings in the studio, a chair a lamp, looking out into the landscape. He uses all the information to help him mapping out a scene through painting that he is comfortable with – losing and adding.   “ …at times scenes become visible  on the outlook  the more you look”.