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HERE, THERE & FORWARD

Weathervane 8

Sarel Petrus

born 1977

Artwork Details

Artist          Sarel Petrus
Title            Weathervane 8
Year            2026
Medium      Bronze (50 x 30 x 30 cm)

About the Artist

Sarel Petrus (born 1977) is a South African sculptor who lives and works in Pretoria. He holds a Fine Art degree from Tshwane University of Technology. Petrus further enhanced his bronze-casting knowledge while working for 8 years in the studio of sculptor Guy du Toit. He works primarily in bronze, wood and mixed media, often drawing on found objects, memory and the natural environment. He was a Top 10 finalist in the 2007 ABSA L’Atelier competition and received the Sculpture Merit Award at the 2014 Thami Mnyele Fine Arts Awards.

About this Artwork

Drawing on memories of childhood, family stories, and experiences of the natural world, Petrus’s work navigates the space between what is remembered and what remains just beyond reach. Birds, animals, and found forms serve as symbolic carriers of personal histories, transforming individual experiences into reflections on memory, belonging, and human connection. Central to his practice is the understanding that memory is rarely stable or complete. Rather than existing as a fixed record of events, it often emerges as a sensation, an impression, or a fleeting image.

Petrus explores these shifting qualities of recollection, returning to fragments of family history, including thoughts of an uncle he scarcely knew, whose presence persists more as an emotional trace than a tangible memory. These moments of recognition, longing, and unresolved connection have become recurring themes within his work.