Women’s Month
Creative Forces: South African Women Artists You Should Know (and How to Get Inspired at Home)
This Women’s Month, we’re celebrating local women making serious waves in the art world and showing you how to tap into their energy with your own creative projects.
Women’s Month is all about celebrating the women shaping South Africa’s present and future, and that includes the incredible artists using their creativity to shift culture, tell powerful stories, and make people stop and look. Art isn’t just about galleries and exhibitions. It’s about how we express ourselves, make sense of the world, and share where we come from.
At PNA, we’re all about everyday creativity. Whether you’re doodling in the margins, crafting on weekends, or building a full-on portfolio, there’s a little magic in making things by hand. So, in the spirit of Women’s Month, we’re spotlighting some of SA’s most exciting women artists and giving you a few easy ways to channel their creative energy using supplies you can find at your local PNA.
Discipline: Drawing, painting, installation
Inspiration style: Dreamy, vulnerable, emotionally rich
Boemo’s art feels like looking into someone’s subconscious. Using pencil, charcoal and soft colour washes, she explores themes like identity, self-awareness and mental health, especially from a young, Black, female perspective. There’s softness to her work, but it’s loaded with feeling and complexity.
Try it yourself: Start a visual journal using sketch paper and graphite pencils. Try layering drawings with coloured pencil to create mood. Explore themes like memory or emotion. Nothing too polished, just honest.
Shop the look: Staedtler graphite pencils, Dala watercolour paint, A4 sketchpads, stretched canvas.
Discipline: Digital illustration, murals, sneaker design
Inspiration style: Loud, local, full of life
Karabo Poppy’s work is everywhere from international ad campaigns to Joburg city walls and it always feels unmistakably South African. She’s known for her bold lines, layered patterns and energetic characters that capture the pulse of everyday South African life.
Try it yourself: Use paint markers or acrylics to make your own bold illustration on canvas, cardboard or even an old pair of takkies. Draw people you see every day or remix SA signage and street scenes into your own graphic style.
Shop the look: Paint markers, Reeves acrylics, mini canvas boards, masking tape for clean lines.
Discipline: Mixed-media portraiture, collage
Inspiration style: Bold, textural, unapologetically feminine
Cinthia mixes painted portraits with luxury wallpapers, rich fabrics and cut-outs to explore how Black women occupy space, both physically and emotionally. Her work feels like stepping into someone’s inner world, full of beauty and symbolism.
Try it yourself: Print out a photo of yourself or someone you love and build a mixed-media collage around it. Use scrap paper, magazine clippings, fabrics and ribbon. Tell a story about your identity using pattern and texture.
Shop the look: Mod Podge, fabric offcuts, paper pads, scissors, glue sticks, oil paint, canvas.
Discipline: Sculpture, photography, performance
Inspiration style: Raw, powerful, body-centred
Nandipha uses unconventional materials like cowhide to sculpt life-size female forms. Her work questions beauty standards, gender roles and where the natural world meets the human body. It’s unflinching, tactile and boundary-pushing.
Try it yourself: You might not have cowhide on hand, but air-dry clay or papier-mâché is a great medium for expressive sculpture. Make a face mask, hand form or abstract body shape and finish it with textured paint or natural materials.
Shop the look: Dala air-dry clay, modelling tools, paper pulp, earth-toned acrylic paints.
Discipline: Sculpture, painting, installation
Inspiration style: Organic, poetic, introspective
Rina works with bronze, ink, and found materials to create delicate but thought-provoking sculptures and installations. Her work often explores nature, memory, and the quiet relationship between body and space.
Try it yourself: Use wire, clay, or papier-mâché to sculpt small nature-inspired forms—leaves, pods, abstract silhouettes—then paint them in soft earthy tones or metallic finishes.
Shop the look: Air-dry clay, wire rolls, metallic paint, matte varnish
Discipline: Textile design, fashion
Inspiration style: Heritage-based, story-rich, African feminist
Sindiso is a Cape Town-based fashion and textile designer who blends traditional craftsmanship with digital techniques. Her collections often explore historical narratives and the experiences of Black women in Africa.
Try it yourself: Create your own textile designs by stamping or hand-painting fabric with repetitive patterns, symbols, or heritage motifs. Great for making tote bags, bookmarks, or fabric gift wraps.
Shop the look: Textile paint, foam stamps, cotton fabric offcuts, paintbrushes
Celebrate Women’s Month Creatively
These women are proof that you don’t need permission to express yourself. Just a bit of courage, some imagination and a few tools to bring your ideas to life.
Whether you’re a sketcher, sculptor, scrapbooker or weekend crafter, Women’s Month is the perfect excuse to make something meaningful. Tell your story. Honour your heritage. Or just have fun and play.
Visit your nearest PNA or shop online for all your creative tools. Let’s celebrate South African talent the best way we know how: by getting inspired and making something beautiful.