Biography

Hannelie Coetzee (b. 1971) is a Johannesburg-based visual artist.  Coetzee works in her practice to grow an audience that appreciates art whilst contributing to systems change. She received a BTech degree in social documentary photography from the Vaal University for Technology in 1994. She followed it up with an Advanced Diploma in Fine Arts at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) whilst working in the Fine Arts Department (1996-1997). She studied Social Entrepreneurship at the Gordon Institute for Business Science (GIBS), The University of Pretoria’s Business School in Johannesburg on a Rand Merchant Bank Grant in 2013. She was invited to do a Master of Science Degree (MSc) as an artist in the Wits Animal, Plants and Environmental Science School in 2019. She will be reading with an abductive approach to hone science as a medium in artworks that connect people.

Coetzee uses natural materials, unlikely partnerships and industry waste to build site-specific artworks.  Her artworks are sometimes permanent, but often ephemeral. Research into the material and the context of the site is fundamental to her process and inspires her conceptually. Coetzee’s two-dimensional murals, three-dimensional sculptures and photographs engage partners and viewers to challenge their perspectives, often through immersive experiences such as walking. Coetzee’s artworks integrate science and culture to encourage empathy for and engagement with nature.