Llise Dodd

Llise grew up in Wittedrift in the Southern Cape. She lives and works as a full-time artist on a farm in the Elands River Valley in the Eastern Cape. 

Llise holds a BMus (Hons) in musicology at the Nelson Mandela University. She taught music for two years before enrolling for an art course at the late Susan Barnard’s Knapp Art School in Uitenhage. Landscapes, incorporating surrealism and symbolism, are favoured as subject matter. As a keen mountain biker, she enjoys cycling in remote areas for inspiration. 

She has held seven solo exhibitions and has participated in over 100 group exhibitions. Her work has been included in the coffee table book Art and Artists of the Eastern Cape and has been used on the cover page of the book Lockdown Letters.

Llise has been part of the Spier Arts Trust Creative Block project since 2016 and is a Nando’s Creative Exchange alumni.

Since 2022 she has been a judicator for the Nelson Mandela University’s Art Math National Programme.

In 2023 Llise showed a successful solo-exhibition ‘Landmark’ at the GFI Art Gallery in Gqeberha.

She is currently working towards a solo exhibition at the Oliewenhuis National Museum, Bloemfontein.

Artist Statement: Continuum

Landscapes make us feel and remember. They give us a sense of belonging, connecting us to places and memories.

Just as a landscape bears the marks of time and the elements, so too do we carry imprints of our experiences, emotions, and identities.

I love painting landscapes, because for me each one feels like creating a portrait of someone special – revealing something of its character, its history and the marks that time has left behind. it always feel as if I am creating a portrait of a special person.