For over 60 years, this artist has forged the meaning of humanity

Art can conjure profound emotions. The creative process, from ideation to construction and exhibition, calls on artists and audiences to offer their interpretation. But for the maker, the meaning stems from their soul. Take Maureen Quin, one of South Africa’s most engaging sculptors. For over 60 years, she’s been carving out passionate and thought-provoking responses to a world she believes is slowly losing its connection to feeling. 

Quin begins by sketching until a form takes shape, which she then manifests in sculptures. “I work by gut feel and let that guide me,” Quin says. “It comes from within, it’s not forced.” Her human figures are made from layers of roughly-hewn metal pieces. When combined, they transform into beings whose body language speaks to Quin’s past relationships, experiences, and emotions.

Quin’s art traverses and honours the complexity of existence. Over 100 of her works are on display at the Quin Sculpture Garden in the Eastern Cape. “Without art, life would be dead for me,” she says. While many distance themselves from their feelings, Quin has harnessed hers to show what makes us truly human.