Wil-Merie Greyling

Wil-Merie Greyling (b. 1969) is a contemporary artist and sculptor from Swakopmund who completed her Master of Fine Arts at Rhodes University in South Africa in 2023. Greyling’s practice explores the metaphoric qualities of found objects through installation. In the past, her work has focused on salt mining on the Namibian coast. During the retreat, Greyling took the opportunity to explore another mining area in Namibia through painting, mixed-media works, and installation. Reflecting on her installation titled ‘Shadows of yesterday and tomorrow’, Greyling writes, “With this work I imagined rediscovering the link between the past and future using circles – whether imprinted by Flamingoes' repetitive ‘footprints’ the flock creates by feeding in the mud marches at Bakers Bay, or dense shadows cast by a rusted 1970 phalange.” Startart Gallery, as convenor and curator of the retreat, is Helen Harris.

She currently runs her studio and private gallery located in the Atlanta Arcade in Nathaniel Maxuilili Street in the Swakopmund CBD. In addition to producing serious work, she offers bespoke immersive artistic activities. Collectors can contact her on social media for appointments at wilmeriegreyling@gmail.com

Wil-Merie Greyling has been a contemporary artist in Swakopmund, Namibia, since 2019. She participated in Tulipamwe artist residency in 2018, exhibited at UNAM’s graduate exhibition that same year, and was awarded a distinction in one of her majors, Creative Expression. Her techniques include ceramics, sculpting, painting, and installation, and she uses unconventional materials such as salt in all its forms. Her inspiration is derived from the Erongo region saltscapes and her auto-ethnographical approaches. She completed her Master of Fine Arts at Rhodes University in 2023. Her work was featured at the 2023 National Arts Festival in Makhanda, South Africa, as part of the Master’s group exhibition at the Department of Fine Art Gallery, and her solo exhibition at Grahamstown’s 1820 Settlers National Monument. In 2023, she was selected for the Bakers Bay Artists Retreat in the Sperrgebiet by the OMDIS and NAMDEB “Reimagining Rehabilitation” Project. Wil-Merie will open her art studio in the CBD of Swakopmund on the 4th of April 2026, where she practices contemporary art forms using a multidimensional approach. Her work is emotive, and she enjoys the technical challenges of large contemporary installations. She was commissioned to create the Swakop Uranium environmental day 2024 mural, in situ work on the coastline or in the Namib Desert.
Thesis Link https://researchrepository.ru.ac.za/items/b97e0877-6209-4834-bb7a-8424e86c428f

Wil-Merie Greyling, a contemporary artist and sculptor from Swakopmund, transported 1.8 tons of dense salt blocks from the Cape Cross salt pans to Rhodes University for her Master of Fine Arts 2023 exhibition, Out of the Ruins, Out from the Wreckage. Her artwork is on display at the Fine Art Gallery in Grahamstown/Makhanda during the National Art Festival in South Africa from 22 June to 2nd of July 2023. Wil-Merie explores the metaphoric qualities by carving salt blocks and delicately crystallising objects as self-motives to reflect on the relationships between grief and growth and to articulate the inseparable bond between physical and spiritual landscapes.
“In my artistic practice, I explored the character of Namibian salt in its natural form, dense blocks, by transforming their inherent properties from commercial minerals into unique art objects. I examined the metaphoric associations of devastation and restoration, creating an installation using various elements from carving salt blocks to creating delicate salt-encrusted objects”.
The academics overseeing her research have described her work as highly original, poetic and emotive with a high degree of technical difficulty. More detailed video and visual documentation of her exhibition work is available online at @wilmerieg and @Wil-MerieGreylingArtist