Christine Jacobs

Christine Jacobs (b. 1992) is a multidisciplinary artist and designer whose work testifies to the land and its generative, generational presence; her sculptures and drawings psychologically and tangibly connected to its multifaceted dimensions. Born and raised on a Merino sheep farm in South Africa, this interconnectedness with the land is deeply personal, guided by very particular contours and co-ordinates and the stories layered throughout six generations of her family’s synergism with the terrain.

Wool, symbolic thus of her heritage and identity, as well as of comfort and protection, pervades her practice: “The process of wool felting shapes my sculptures and serves as both metaphor and meditative act; a metaphor for the entanglement of earth and its dwellers, a meditative act of narration through memory.”

Jacobs maps out this entanglement – the intricate, ever-evolving dialogue between the land and its inhabitants – across imagined geographies, where the landscape itself functions as an active participant, both a protective and playful presence, manifesting in womb-like, cradling forms that draw in the viewer. Beckoned into a sanctuary of sorts, the viewer is invited to share in the unfolding and enfolding narratives at play, transported to a place to reflect upon place – and the way it shapes our imag¬ination.

Jacobs has exhibited in solo and group shows in South Africa, with galleries including Southern Guild and at events including the Cape Town Art Fair. In early 2026 she will be exhibiting at Objects with Narratives in Belgium and presenting a solo booth at the Cape Town Art Fair. Also lauded as a furniture designer, she was recognised as a Design Indaba Emerging Creative in 2019, and later that year won Best Stand Award at 100% Design South Africa.

Jacobs’s career journey to date is telling of her creative approach. After graduating in 2014 with a fine art degree from the University of Stellenbosch, she pursued a profession in interior and furniture design, co-founding and curating a design gallery and launching her own award-winning bespoke furniture design business. An abiding love for visual art and slower, considered narrative drew her back towards the world of fine art (in the conventional sense), but it is also in the blurring of boundaries, in the playful entanglement between these two disciplines, that Jacobs delights, and this interplay lends significant strength – both metaphorically and literally – to her entire oeuvre.