February 28, 2026 - April 05, 2026
White River, South Africa
The exhibition ‘Samevloeiing/Confluence’, a solo exhibition by Lowveld artist Annalie Odendaal, opened at White River Gallery at the Casterbridge Lifestyle Centre on Saturday, February 28 at 12 noon.
Gallery director Dana MacFarlane said the exhibition brings together a body of paintings, prints and ceramic works that reflect Odendaal’s longstanding engagement with material, process and intuitive exploration.
While the exhibition moves fluidly between two-dimensional and three-dimensional forms, a central thread is the notion of convergence – of materials, ideas and experiences meeting within the artist’s practice.
Odendaal was born and raised in the small Karoo town of Aberdeen in the Eastern Cape, where she was first introduced to clay by the late Ansie van Zyl. This early mentorship sparked a lifelong passion for ceramics. After completing school, she studied at the University of Stellenbosch, obtaining a BA in Fine Arts along with a teaching diploma.
For many years she taught art part-time from home, first in Harrismith and later in White River, while continuing to develop her own creative practice. Sixteen years ago she transitioned to working as a full-time artist. Although her practice initially centred on clay, she gradually expanded into painting and printmaking, reflecting an ongoing curiosity and openness to new forms of expression.
Odendaal said her artistic process is guided by an appreciation for experimentation and the natural dialogue that occurs between artist and material.
“My art practice is guided by a deep love of process — allowing materials, intuition and play to shape the work. Years spent teaching children nurtured a spirit of openness and experimentation that continues to inform my approach across painting, printmaking and ceramics.
“The two-dimensional works move between cut fragments, layered surfaces and print-driven marks. Each piece invites an emotional response and encourages viewers to form their own inner narrative. The barrel-fired vessels echo this sensibility. I offer structure and intention, but the fire completes the piece, leaving its own quiet alchemy on the clay,” Odendaal says.
Opening the exhibition was Portuguese conceptual artist and longstanding friend of Annalie’s, Ana Maria Nomico, who spoke about the ideas of convergence and encounter that underpin the exhibition.
“The title Samevloeiing or Confluence refers to the meeting of currents,” Nomico said, describing it as a place where different energies arrive with their own memory and direction. “A confluence is where currents come together, not to erase their differences, but to move alongside one another for a time. Across this exhibition we encounter works that move between what can be named and what resists language. Paintings and prints hold the world on a surface, while ceramic forms step into the room with their own physical presence, asking us to meet them in time and space. Gesture, touch and repetition pass between mediums, creating echoes that connect the works rather than separating them.”
She added that the works invite viewers to become part of the encounter.
“Each of us arrives here from a different place — artists, scholars, acquaintances and friends — bringing our own experiences and ways of seeing. As we move through the exhibition, those currents intersect, and the work continues to form through our presence.”
