Jeanette Verster creates three-dimensional works using a mathematically precise folded grid structure as a foundation for abstract painting and stitching.
This collection is founded on folded sequences structured around a grid. Each work begins as a single, flat surface that is transformed through folding into a three-dimensional form. In some textile pieces, the surface is first constructed from pieced scrap fabrics before being folded.
Working without digital cutting and plotting technologies, Jeanette relies on meticulous hand folding to create rhythmic patterns, often simple tessellations. These precise structures contrast with bold, intuitive applications of colour and texture, using acrylic paint, inks, pastel, and embroidery thread and stitch.
The resulting architectural forms generate shifting plays of light and shadow. Precision, changing light, and the spontaneous use of colour and texture create a visual dialogue that rewards close viewing.
Artist Biography
Jeanette Verster is an Eastbourne-based artist with a diverse background in music, teaching, and design. She was raised in Namibia in a community where art and music were part of everyday life. Her lifelong fascination with typography, visual language, and the power of narrative informs her multidisciplinary practice which spans book arts, mixed media, and origami-based work. Through her exploration of form and transformation she has established a distinctive artistic voice.
Jeanette has received numerous accolades, including the Changing Threads Bernina Award (2022), the Taranaki National Arts Awards, twice winning in the Textile division (2020 and 2023), and the Supreme Awards at the Lysaght Watt Trust Art Awards (2021) and Wellington Arts Review (2024). She has exhibited widely, participating in many group shows as well as presenting solo exhibitions.
Jeanette Verster, Untitled, acrylic on linen laminated paper, 2024.
