• I Find You All Around Me

    Karla Nixon and Driaan Claassen

  • I Find You All Around Me brings together the practices of Driaan Claasen and Karla Nixon in an exhibition that... I Find You All Around Me brings together the practices of Driaan Claasen and Karla Nixon in an exhibition that... I Find You All Around Me brings together the practices of Driaan Claasen and Karla Nixon in an exhibition that... I Find You All Around Me brings together the practices of Driaan Claasen and Karla Nixon in an exhibition that...
     
      I Find You All Around Me brings together the practices of Driaan Claasen and Karla Nixon in an exhibition that considers the sublime not as transcendence beyond the self, but as a condition of intimate and destabilising proximity. Borrowing its title from a poem by the 12th-century Persian mystic Hakim Sanai, the exhibition reflects on forms of presence that evade fixed definition while continuing to structure perception, embodiment, and emotional experience.

    The exhibition unfolds as a gradual movement from fragmentation toward immersion. While materially and formally distinct, both artists explore bodies under pressure: the psychological body and the elemental body; the internal landscape and the natural world. Together, their works suggest that certain presences cannot be fully perceived, as they are already embedded within and around us.

    Throughout, the figure of “You” remains deliberately unresolved. It may refer to another person, the self, memory, grief, nature, divinity, or the unseen emotional states that define contemporary life. Rather than offering fixed interpretations, I Find You All Around Me proposes presence as relational and perpetually shifting — something perceived differently depending on one’s position, yet never fully separable from the act of looking itself.

     

    Read full exhibition text here 

  • Driaan Claassen (b. 1991, Johannesburg, South Africa) has exhibited internationally at major fairs including Design MiamiDesign Days Dubai, and AIYA Collectible. He was awarded the Tyburn Foundation Affiliated Fellowship at Civitella Ranieri in 2025, and has completed residencies at the Villa-Legodi Centre for Sculpture and Quartier am Hafen.

    See full bio and CV here

    • Driaan Claassen An afternoon nap , 2026 48 x 30 x 36 cm Ceramic with electrochemically propagated copper
      Driaan Claassen
      An afternoon nap , 2026
      48 x 30 x 36 cm
      Ceramic with electrochemically propagated copper
  • "His work reflects a deep fascination with themes of consciousness, order, and chaos, often employing a meticulous combination of ancient techniques and cutting-edge technology."
    • Driaan Claassen A deep obsession , 2026 32 x 42 x 47 cm Woven wire with electrochemically propagated copper
      Driaan Claassen
      A deep obsession , 2026
      32 x 42 x 47 cm
      Woven wire with electrochemically propagated copper
    • Driaan Claassen I need to protect you , 2026 42 x 40 x 40 cm Woven wire with electrochemically propagated copper
      Driaan Claassen
      I need to protect you , 2026
      42 x 40 x 40 cm
      Woven wire with electrochemically propagated copper
  • "His sculptures are characterized by a seamless integration of material innovation and psychological depth, reflecting his deep fascination with concepts of consciousness, order, and chaos."
    • Driaan Claassen Putting you first, 2026 23 x 35 x 35 cm Electrochemically propagated copper
      Driaan Claassen
      Putting you first, 2026
      23 x 35 x 35 cm
      Electrochemically propagated copper
    • Driaan Claassen I can't be alone, 2026 17 x 23 x 23 cm Electrochemically propagated copper
      Driaan Claassen
      I can't be alone, 2026
      17 x 23 x 23 cm
      Electrochemically propagated copper
    • Driaan Claassen I need money to be happy, 2026 20 x 30 x 32 cm Electrochemically propagated copper
      Driaan Claassen
      I need money to be happy, 2026
      20 x 30 x 32 cm
      Electrochemically propagated copper
    • Driaan Claassen Creeping Anxiety, 2026 20 x 15 x 30 cm Ceramic with electrochemically propagated copper
      Driaan Claassen
      Creeping Anxiety, 2026
      20 x 15 x 30 cm
      Ceramic with electrochemically propagated copper
  • Karla Nixon (b. 1990, Durban, South Africa) has exhibited nationally and internationally, with notable presentations including the Shanghai Paper Art Biennale (2023), the Rupert Museum (2024), and the Spier Light Art Festival (2025). She has been a finalist in both the Sasol New Signatures and ABSA L’Atelier awards, and her work is held in major public collections including the Durban Art Gallery and the National Art Bank.
     
     
  • “The ocean, in particular, becomes a site of tension and transformation: at once serene and volatile, welcoming and indifferent. It resists static definition and demands continual negotiation.”
  • “Each torn fragment, each layered hue, becomes a gesture toward water’s contradictions: its capacity to soothe or unsettle, to reveal or obscure.”
  • About the Artists About the Artists

    About the Artists

    Driaan Claassen (b.1991) explores the complexities of the human psyche through sculptural works that merge traditional craftsmanship with contemporary technology. Working across materials such as bronze, wood, amd wire, he creates intricate forms that reflect on conciousness, perception, and the tension between order and chaos. Claassen's practice bridges the physical and pyschological, inviting viewers to consider the unseen structures that shape human experience. 

     

    Karla Nixon (b. 1990) engages paper as both fragile and enduring, constructing delicate, sculptural works that reflect on transience, memory, and belonging. Through acts of cutting and reconstruction, Nixon transforms paper into landscape, a terrain of impermanence and renewal. Her works meditate on the emotional and historical weight of place, asking how we inhabit the spaces we make and how they, in turn, shape us.