Buy my Art!

I've opened an account at ImageKind. They will make prints of my paintngs, from cards to high quality canvas art reproductions. Prices start around USD $10 plus post and packing. Take a look by clicking below.
Problem is with Imagekind - they are based in USA. So it's a bit expensive to courier prints to other countries. If you live outside USA, email me and I'll organise a print to be made for you in UK, South Africa or Australia.
Also if you want bigger prints than those on the Imagekind menu - send your request to this email.
Email: ruska@ruska.co.uk

Artist's Statement

SOUTH AFRICAN ARTIST GUSTAV KALTENBRUN

I was born in South Africa and spent many years painting portraits of people. I look for subjects who portray a sense of transformation, from one condition to another. I am not concerned with an exact likeness but my portraits must be emotionally charged and filled with symbolic meanings that are expressed in form line and colour.

People over the world have rites connected to the stages of life such as birth and death or going from one status to another.

South African initiation ceremonies celebrate becoming a man in secluded mountainous areas where the youth are subject to gruelling rituals that are poignantly portrayed. In this series called “Bosgefok” a group of young men, in anguish, are wrapped in blankets for several weeks after being circumcised without anaesthetics.

In contrast most European youth have an easy time as they are initiated into manhood. Punk rockers for instance turn into anti-social men and women. They also create unusual hairstyles a form of rite of passage that is universal.

Nuns have a special attraction for me as I see them as people abandoning their previous lifestyle and entering the monastery to dedicate themselves to God. Mother Teresa (whom I met and sketched while in South Africa) is a person one could never forget.

Man in transition often expresses himself in symbols such as the Punk rockers hairstyle. I have worked in metal (mainly in silver) to create symbols inspired by people I have met in the course of my long search for the ‘perfect sitter’.

Sales of work: people who would like to obtain signed copies of these paintings are requested to contact me at email: jakal AT telkomsa DOT net.

Jack's shamanic symbols

African Fire Dance - Composition in Copper

Gustav also interprets his experiences of shamanic ritual using metal and crystal to construct what he calls "symbols". The video below shows examples of his recent work using copper, silver and agate. Contact: jakal AT telkomsa DOT net

Sesothu initiation ceremonies

Four initiates with symbolic blankets post circumcision Clocolan District 1960
Photo by John Robinson

Gustav "Jack" Kaltenbrun is a South African who has attended Sesothu shamanic ceremonies since 1950. He interprets these private events using the medium of oil painting, enabling a subjective reflection of ambience while preserving the anonymity of the participants. These paintings are Gustav's shamanic art.

As shamanic practices are enjoying a revival worldwide, Gustav feels the time is right to share his visual record. He says of his paintings: "I was there on the spot and they are authentic not tarted up to look romantic. They are raw and truthful."

African shamanic practices remain relatively obscure to the western eye. This is ironic since African shamanism is authentic, being commonplace and rooted in the everyday experience of most indigenous Africans. Indigenous African spirituality is sometimes called animism, and involves respect for the spirits of the ancestors and the natural world. Shamanic work opens channels to this world of spirits. Animism, or shamanism, exists alongside world religions such as Christianity and Islam.

Below is a video presentation of 18 of Jack's shamanic paintings.

Photos by John Robinson 

Gustav Kaltenbrun lives in Natal. His English nick-name is Jack. He has an MA (History of Art). Gustav is glad to share the images posted to this website, but if you want to use them elsewhere, he hopes to earn a living from his art, so he retains copyright and please ask before using. He may charge for use depending on context. Gustav sells high quality limited editions of signed prints of these paintings. He also has a collection of related images and records. If you are interested buying prints of these paintings, or in exhibiting or publishing these paintings and associated records in book form, please email your initial enquiry to:  jakal AT telkomsa DOT net