Margita Thiele was born in Pretoria in 1970, matriculated at the Hoër Meisieskool Hugenote in 1988 and graduated in 1992 from the Potchefstroom University with a BA degree in Communication with Fine Arts. She pursued a career in Graphic Design and started exhibiting her art in 2016.

“Coming from a graphic design background where perfection rules, I am drawn to the freedom and imperfections of painting and drawing. I often scribble vigorously, drip and splash paint or smear and scrape to enhance the idea of miss-registration. The titles of my work often serve as clues or starting points for the viewer of what the work is about, so they can create their own narrative.”

“I find painting in reverse on plexiglass highly rewarding. The process is in stark contrast to painting on canvas. Starting with the foreground elements and highlights in your work, working your way back to lastly complete the background, often results in an unexpected and surprising finished product.”

“Themes in my work that I keep coming back to are greenery or foliage and people. My work may appear graffiti-like, and I often include text in my works serving as commentary. I enjoy art that uplifts and entertains. My paintings are mainly tongue-in-cheek commentary on everyday people and may even hover between the comic and the tragic. By using lots of detail in mixed media, collage items and texture, further clues on the deeper meaning of the works are given. I love using vibrant, contrasting colours to further express my feelings or emotions about people around me.”