One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. This adage speaks volumes when looking at the carefully crafted masterpieces of Jeffreys Bay-based artist, Sassa van Zyl.
Operating under the name of Three Bag Lady (the humorous story for that name to follow), Van Zyl creates beautiful mosaic miniatures that are meticulously crafted with discarded plastic found on her daily walks by the beach of Aston Bay in Jeffreys Bay.
Accompanied by her playful pup, Nina, Van Zyl with her three bags in hand, braves the beach and collects all the discarded trash along the coast.
There is a large bag for all the plastic waste that Van Zyl discerns as unable to use in her art, a second small net like bag that doubles as a sieve that gets rid of all the sand and small debris from the usable plastic and a third special bag exclusively for the use of Nina, and that is how the name Three Bag Lady was born.
The art that Van Zyl creates with this unusual medium is stunning. Aside from her landscape pieces that are scenes from the Cape (the famous Bo-Kaap or Muizenberg beach), sprawling lavender fields and the Delft range, she has works of art that stare you straight in the face.
Upon first sight, these colourful mandalas and carefully placed out rainbow shaded squares are a psychedelic feast for the senses. But, with closer inspection, these works of art are laced with a message – do not pollute.
One’s eyes almost have a hard time trying to focus on one element at once, because these hues are filled with large uncut pieces of trash, all collected from our beautiful coastline.
Van Zyl, who has deep roots in the tourist community of Jeffreys Bay, says that these plastic mosaics are only one facet of her artistic ventures.
Among other items, she also creates “blok-huisies” out of the mostly unused parts of recycled pallets.
Having been featured on Kyknet’s Kwêla, as well as on a special art exhibition at the Jan Rupert Centre in Graaff-Reinet, Three Bag Lady’s multifaceted work is exceptional, with a following all over the world, thanks to Instagram.
“Social media is a fantastic tool,” said Van Zyl, who gathers inspiration from social media websites such as Pinterest and Instagram, and is particularly fond of the hashtag.
She runs her own online store that can be easily accessed from her Instagram account.
There you will be able to purchase her plastic mosaic pieces, ranging from miniatures to slightly larger than an A5.
- If you would like to know more about Sassa van Zyl and her plastic mosaics visit her social media platform on Instagram, found under the handle @threebaglady, where you will also be able to purchase these one-of-a-kind works of art.
