A young Durban artist is making waves in the US where her realistic portraits of interesting people and paintings of African animals have captured the imagination of art lovers.
Holly Kavonic, 27, who matriculated at Danville Park Girls’ High, uses oil on canvas. Her work resembles high-definition photographs with intricate detail and lighting.
Kavonic is self-taught and developed her style of painting while she was still at school.
Her career was launched by Louis Bruwer, a Durban-based art enthusiast and patron who commissioned her to paint his family.
After this, she sold some of her paintings to galleries in the US and has now moved to California where, she says, the audience is very receptive to her work. “Many of my collectors have travelled to Africa and relate well to my subjects,” she said.
Kavonic paints full time and releases limited-edition giclée prints of her work. She hopes to exhibit in South Africa soon and would especially like to hold an exhibition in her home town, Ballito.
“I want to capture and preserve on canvas all races and cultures from many different countries, and ultimately help people all over the world connect to each other,” she said.
Her technique is to start with a small section of a painting, using a photograph on the computer as a reference, so that she can zoom in on detail. She applies layers on to the wet paint until that section is perfected. She completes a small section a day.
One painting takes between six and 12 weeks to complete. - The Mercury