i am an artist and astrologer working across different mediums with a focus on body, time, spirit and language. my work starts from the understanding that material systems emerge from belief systems and that meaningful transformation begins with investing in the reconfiguring of belief systems.

i was born in empangeni in 1990. growing up in the white suburbs of post(ish)-apartheid south africa, my childhood-world revolved around intense ballet training and the christian religion. god and dance was how i made sense of the world and i now find myself creating from the foundations of both an embodied and spiritual practice, orientated towards a kind of applied decolonial philosophy.

with the knowledge that part of my ancestral lineage includes a normalization and continuation of colonial projects, i am curious about how a body with both the material and immaterial inheritances such as mine can contribute to different dismantlings of eurocentric logic, white supremacy and various imperial structures and beliefs that sustain ongoing injustices.

i find creative labour and relational-tending to be effective strategies in cultivating the imagination that is necessary to go beyond a posture of coloniality that has shaped (is shaping) my being. my artistic practice encompasses a variety of actions, both big and small that move fast and slow are sometimes seen or not-seen. it includes writing, reading, dancing, singing, performing and performance-making and book-making.

these actions occur both in collaboration and alone. sometimes the only thing that makes sense is indeed poetry. i am a life-long student of plants and planets, and am engaged in ongoing studies of both gardening and herbalism. regarding my astrology practice, you can read more about it here.

some words that may help locate the kinds of things i do / make / research / work or spend time are:

storytelling – dance – poem – song – time – ritual – names – language – performance – etymology – epistemology – theology – theurgy –  history – decoloniality – god(s) – archives – ancestors – friendship – play – magic – improvisation – love.

if you have questions or want to connect, please don’t hesitate to get in touch at nicola.van.straaten@gmail.com or subscribe to my museletter here.