Born in Welkom, South Africa
Lives and works in Melkbosstrand, South Africa
Born and raised in a Gold mining community located in the centre of South Africa, Esmariè du Plooy matriculated in the heart of the country’s Gold-fields, known as Welkom in the Free State, and suspects that her formative years was probably where she developed her gold vein.
After graduating matric she began her apprenticeship under the tutelage of a German Goldsmith, at his family manufacturing jewellery shop: La Finess Jewellers, where a fundamentally sound foundation was taught that enabled her to pursue a sustainable career in jewellery. Later, she would study Jewellery Design and Manufacture at the Natal Technikon in Durban, where she obtained a Higher Diploma in 1995 with her Dissertation: Nature seen through the eyes of a jeweller.
After shortly working in the jewellery industry in Cape Town as an extruder of gold tubing, she applied as a part time lecturer of evening courses at the Ruth Prowse School of Art, but was instead granted the position as Head of the Department. In 2000 she founded the jewellery department at the College of Cape Town and was also actively involved in the curriculum development of the NQF Jewellery qualifications from its inception to the implementation of many of these qualifications at various institutions nationally.
Since 2014 she has established her own entrepreneurial business which operates from her studio in Melkbosstrand, where she also offers part time classes. She manufactures bespoke commissions whilst participating in exhibitions both nationally and internationally, and hopes to extend her personal range online in the coming future.
Du Plooy’s work is deeply inspired by the beauty, fragility and resilience that she perceives in her natural environment. Her work often pays tribute to the overlooked, the discarded or disregarded, by casting these into functional forms of composed metallurgy with accents of precious and semi-precious stones.
In the past du Plooy has created several different Series’ of work which debuted at previous iterations of the annual Melkbos Ateljee Open Studios, including jewellery which draws inspiration from seed-pods and -husks, as well as found beach pebbles. This year however, du Plooy has carefully selected the Spekboom as a conduit for her practice and message. For her, the Spekboom epitomises the ambassadorship of a healthy relationship with the environment and each other. By paying homage to this incredible plant specimen, which asks so little in exchange for the myriad of miracles it provides, the Artist transmutes and indeed creates heirloom pieces which captures, reveres and ultimately shares a relevant legacy with younger generations.
