b. 1982 Johannesburg, South Africa | London studio
Teniqua Crawford is a multidisciplinary South African artist with a London based studio. She recently exhibited in the major group exhibition Breasts during the 2024 Venice Biennale at ACP Palazzo Franchetti. Her works are included in private collections and foundations. Her work primarily explores the human condition through the human form, presenting these enduring themes in a contemporary context.
Crawford paints and sculpts from life while drawing from her inner world to combine observation, memory, imagination and subconscious elements. She is interested in the interplay between figuration and abstraction. Her work delves into embodiment and is a meditation on essence, presence and the metaphysical. Her work evokes a sense of stillness, solitude and timelessness. She is inspired by the nature of stillness and its power as a pathway of connection.
Crawford began her career in theatre and now approaches her studio practice as a form of intimate stage. She is inspired by the energetic connection and alchemy between artist and muse, and the immediacy of capturing a moment in time while working from life.
Her exploration of the human form as landscape and within landscape seeks to connect the human condition to the natural world. Her connection to nature is inspired by growing up along South Africa’s wild coastline. The prehistoric Middle stone-age caves in the area shaped her interest in the nature of existence. Their ancient artifacts, tools and drawings also inspired her interest in carving and the ever-present meaning found in mark making.
She works with muted and sepia tones and the raw, natural textures of charcoal, paper, linen and oil. She is similarly drawn to chiaroscuro that emphasises shades of dark and light. In her bronze sculptures, she works with patinas that evoke the raw surfaces of natural rock and stone.
Crawford received a Bachelor of Arts from Princeton University and a Master of Fine Arts from Harvard University at the American Repertory Theatre, and the Moscow Art Theatre Institute [MXAT].
Selected Exhibitions
2024 - Breasts, ACP Palazzo Franchetti, Venice
2024 - Winter Exhibition, Everard Read, London
2023 - Summer Exhibition, Everard Read, London
2021 - Group Exhibition, Sladmore Contemporary, London