Mila Posthumus

Mila Posthumus grew up in Cape Town and lives and works on her family’s farm in the Stellenbosch Winelands. She works primarily in oil on canvas, using a painterly form of realism to explore the human condition as it appears in ordinary life. The South African landscape was central to her earlier work. Wide-open spaces, roadside cafés, quiet streets and deserted buildings were painted with a sense of stillness and suspended time. Although figures were sometimes absent, their presence could be felt in the spaces they had recently occupied.
Over time, Posthumus turned increasingly towards portraiture and figurative painting. This shift brought the implied stories in her landscapes to the foreground. Individuals and families became the focus, yet the contemplative atmosphere of her earlier work remained. Her paintings often feel like scenes taken from a larger narrative. Some figures appear unaware of being observed; others confront the viewer directly. Small details - a turned shoulder, an averted gaze or the distance between two people - suggest private histories without revealing them completely. Her subjects appear to conceal and disclose in equal measure.

Posthumus works from observation, personal experience and the relationships around her. Family life, childhood, belonging and the construction of identity recur throughout her practice. Although many subjects are familiar to the artist, she avoids presenting them as straightforward biographical records. Each painting is allowed to develop its own emotional and narrative ambiguity. In her Poolside series, Posthumus explored the sense of freedom and altered behaviour that accompanies being near water. Sunlit swimming pools, swimmers and scenes of retro resort life introduced a lighter atmosphere while retaining her interest in figures caught between action and reflection. Her solo exhibitions with StateoftheART include Tell Me a Story in 2014, Stillness & Motion in 2015, Portrait in 2016 and Poolside in 2019. She has also exhibited at Grande Provence, Dorp Street Gallery, Oude Libertas Gallery and the University of Stellenbosch Gallery. One of her works is held in the permanent collection of the War Museum of the Boer Republics in Bloemfontein.

Posthumus’s paintings are held in private collections in South Africa and internationally. Across intimate portraits and larger narrative compositions, her work continues to consider what people reveal, what they protect and how meaning can be found within the most ordinary moments.

2026
Group exhibition ROOTED at StateoftheART, Stanford, Western Cape

2019
Solo exhibition POOLSIDE at StateoftheART, Cape Town

2016
Solo exhibition PORTRAIT at StateoftheART, Cape Town

2014
Solo exhibition Tell Me A Story at StateoftheART, Cape Town

2012
Exhibition at Oude Libertas Gallery
Stellenbosch Art Association exhibition at Sasol Gallery
Re:Location, curated by Vivien Kohler, StateoftheART online exhibition

2011
Stellenbosch Art Association exhibition

2010
Exhibition at IS Gallery, Franschoek
Exhibition at University of Stellenbosch Gallery, sponsored by SASOL
Solo Exhibition at Grande Provence Gallery, Franschoek

2009
'Angel' exhibitions at Grande Provence Gallery, Franschoek, 2006 to 2009

2007
Solo exhibition, Dorp Street Gallery

2003
Joint exhibition Morgenhof Estate

2002
Solo Exhibition at Bloom Gallery, Stellenbosch

What music are you currently listening to and why?
The radio, mostly.  I love radio as a medium, especially student run stations as they have almost no advertising, the DJs are often fresh and unpretentious and the music new and interesting.

Which living artists do you most admire and why?
There are many,( I admire almost all artists for their commitment) but I do have favourites. John Meyer,  Albert Redelinghuys and H. Craig Hannah because they paint and draw so beautifully.

Which deceased artist do you most admire and why?
Johannes Vermeer, Carel Fabritius, Edouard Manet, Andrew Wyeth, Norman Rockwell, again for the beauty of their technique.

Which exhibition that you have visited made the greatest impact on you and why?
I very much enjoyed an exhibition by Wim Botha in the  National Gallery. It was mostly sculpture and he managed to turn accepted views on their head in such a clever way and with so much grace and skill without allowing the work to depend on its ironic meaning.

What is the question you get asked most frequently about your work and how do you answer it?
’What is your favourite subject matter?’ It’s difficult to answer because it changes all the time. At the moment I am intrigued by social interaction and the effects of social interaction between people.

What/ who inspired you to be an artist ?
I think perhaps my mother, who admired ever single doodle I ever made and thought I was an artist long before I actually was one.

Can you tell us about where you make your art and what if any, the significance this location has.
I have a studio in my house on the farm and one in town so that I can spend more time painting and less on the road!

What do you like most about being an artist?
The act of putting paint onto canvas, of creating something.

What is your greatest achievement as an artist to date?
I think it has to be that I am still inspired to paint, after so many hours spent doing it. There is always something waiting to be painted.