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I was born in South Africa in the 1980s to a gunsmith father and British mother and grew up in a small town with strong Christian overtones. I studied Fine Art and Graphic Design in Cape Town after which the combination of study debt and a strained political situation resulted in extensive travel. Since then I've lived in Belfast, Northern Ireland and Melbourne, Australia where I completed a Contemporary Jewellery course. I currently reside in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
With a few lifetimes worth of memories, comments and opinions, I have found contemporary adornment a rather enjoyable medium for expression. My work often explores recurring themes like sustainability and temporary contemporary adornment, albeit with a tongue resting quite firmly in the cheek. I produce gallery work as Annelies Hofmeyr, perform wifely duties as Annelies Illingworth and create conceptual pieces and wearable jewellery as WIT MYT.
WIT MYT is pronounced 'vit mate'. WIT stems from the Afrikaans word for WHITE and MYT, a derogatory term for a domestic worker, a job usually reserved for coloured (mixed race) and black people. The same phonetic word in Dutch (the colonisers of South Africa), means girl.
I was born in South Africa in the 1980s to a gunsmith father and British mother and grew up in a small town with strong Christian overtones. I studied Fine Art and Graphic Design in Cape Town after which the combination of study debt and a strained political situation resulted in extensive travel. Since then I've lived in Belfast, Northern Ireland and Melbourne, Australia where I completed a Contemporary Jewellery course. I currently reside in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
With a few lifetimes worth of memories, comments and opinions, I have found contemporary adornment a rather enjoyable medium for expression. My work often explores recurring themes like sustainability and temporary contemporary adornment, albeit with a tongue resting quite firmly in the cheek. I produce gallery work as Annelies Hofmeyr, perform wifely duties as Annelies Illingworth and create conceptual pieces and wearable jewellery as WIT MYT.
WIT MYT is pronounced 'vit mate'. WIT stems from the Afrikaans word for WHITE and MYT, a derogatory term for a domestic worker, a job usually reserved for coloured (mixed race) and black people. The same phonetic word in Dutch (the colonisers of South Africa), means girl.