Walk into a gallery showing Magda van der Vloed’s work and you feel it before you see it. Loud, witty, and unafraid, her sculptures and paintings command the room. Some make you laugh, others make you squirm, but none of them leave you untouched.
Roots of a creative rebel
Magda’s love affair with art began in Jan Kempdorp, a small Northern Cape town where her father taught woodwork to children with special needs. His classroom, filled with the smells of paint, glue, and coal smoke, was her playground. That creative energy shaped her long before she studied ceramics and worked with clay for more than 30 years.
Today, she lives and works in Rosendal in the Free State, where she’s transformed an old fire station into a studio. In this small space, she juggles making functional ceramics for local shops, large commissioned pieces such as a Cape Town restaurant installation, and the kind of satirical work that sparks conversations.
Loud art with serious messages
Her style is unapologetically bold. From bronze figures with a wink of humour to portraits of women steeped in grit, Magda refuses to make pretty art for decoration alone. Her pieces often hide heavy themes beneath a playful exterior: corruption, child abuse, social media obsession, and the fight for women’s and children’s rights.
She once vented her frustration at Eskom with a series of “vok Eskom” plates, proving even load shedding can be turned into protest art. For her, every object has the power to start a dialogue.
The Nancy Show and other characters
One of her latest projects, The Nancy Show, draws inspiration from the cheeky cartoon character of her childhood. Magda has created six bronze sculptures, each carrying its own layered meaning, with plans to present them as if they were starring in their own TV show. Currently on display at ArtEye Gallery in Dainfern, the works show her knack for blending satire with activism.
Another recurring motif in her art is the red-haired woman, a self-portrait from her early twenties. She describes the hair as flames, a symbol of both survival and borrowed time. It is her way of acknowledging the fires she has walked through and her determination to keep creating while she can.
Life, art, and activism
Magda’s art is fuelled by her belief in standing up for dignity and truth. She urges others to walk away from what costs them peace and to carve new paths, no matter how hard. This philosophy runs through her canvases and clay, turning each piece into more than art; it becomes advice, protest, and testimony.
Her work is not easy, and it is not meant to be. It is beautiful, satirical, political, and deeply human. By refusing to play it safe, Magda van der Vloed reminds us that art can still be a fearless mirror held up to society.
Source: The Citizen
Featured Image: Instagram/@magdavandervloedstudio
