Mitha Kotze

Born in 1998 in Kathu, Northern Cape with a rare condition called Arthrogryposis, Mitha is unable to use her hands and therefore uses her mouth to draw digitally. She is inspired by landscape art, portraiture and animal portraits. She currently lives in Steinkopf in the Namakwa district.

“My current goal in life as an artist is to become an active individual in society and help my community the best way I can.

Some artists that influence me are Akiane Kramarik and Delmaine Donson, whose portraits of feminine figures really inspire me.

My inspiration for my artwork is basically what I experience, dream or interpret, other forms of art like literature & music or subjects relating to mythology, history and science.”

“The pieces that I have created for African Aces are abundantly reflective of my environment and culture. But as you may notice a lot of it features landscaping, as I have a particular love for the natural environment that we live in. So because of this I used a variety of earthy colours that are symbolic of our semi desert, sometimes rocky mountainous area, accompanied by a large variety of wild animal and plant life, including the infamous Quiver Tree that’s representative of our area. I also wanted to showcase our rich diversity, heritage and lifestyle. Considering the latter I decided to do a few paintings that juxtapose our historic and contemporary modern life.

My reason behind it all is that I want to show the beauty of my region and subsequently increase the tourism sector. And as a result of this helping and uplifting my community.”