Louiza Combrinck is a Bloemfontein-based artist and researcher, whose practice has been largely
influenced by childhood experiences of her Southern Free State family farm and the boundless,
sublime landscapes. Combrinck completed her Bachelor’s in Fine Arts degree (cum laude) in 2020,
at the University of the Free State, and went on to obtain a Bachelors of Arts Honours degree with
a specialisation in Art History and Image Studies (cum laude) in 2021. She currently teaches parttime
at the UFS as a Junior Lecturer in Art History and Image Studies, while also working to
complete her MA in Fine Arts. In 2022, Combrinck was invited to become a member of the Free
State Art Collective, a prestigious collaborative group of Free State artists.
Her practice includes the use of multiple mediums such as painting, video, digital photomontage,
and AI image generation, and investigates sensuous experiences of land, horison, space, and
spacetime. Her broader research interests include themes related to the artistic imagination, the
wonder, discovery, and exploration of land-and- sky, as well as the complicated possession and
demarcation of land in South Africa. More recently, her attention has turned to Artificial
Intelligence imaging programs and Astro-imaging, which includes NASA images of Martian terrain,
deep space, and humanity’s galactic origins in the Milky Way.
During her time at the UFS, Combrinck has received various academic awards for achievements in
both fine art and art history modules, participated in several student exhibitions at the Johannes
Stegmann Gallery, was included in exhibitions at the Vrystaat Arts Festival in 2018, and was a finalist
in the local Phatshoane Henney New Breed competition in 2018 and 2021. In 2022, her work was
included in the Romancing the Stone group exhibition at the KZNSA Gallery, the Making and
Interpreting Art in 2022 virtual exhibition for postgraduate students hosted by UJ, and the
Equilibrium group exhibition hosted by the Free State Art Collective, at the Ark. Contemporary
Gallery in Rosendal. In 2023 Combrinck’s work is included in the prestigious national art
competition, SASOL New Signatures’ top 100 exhibition at the Pretoria Art Museum.