Research & Writing
The Work of Water: the Ritual of Holding Grief in the Artistic Practice of Papermaking.
Linde Kriel presenting his research.
My practice-led research sits at the intersection of materiality, ritual and affect, with water-based hand papermaking as a sustained conceptual and material focus. Drawing on phenomenology, new materialism and queer theory, it asks how the wet, slow, repetitive labour of forming paper can hold grief, belonging and desire.
Master of Visual Arts candidate, University of Johannesburg (FADA), supervised by Prof Brenda Schmahmann — SARChI Chair in South African Art and Visual Culture. Trained in hand papermaking by a master papermaker from Poland, I have made paper from kōzō, banana fibre, cow dung and used teabags.
Conferences & Symposia
Bearing Witness ConferenceUpcoming
11 December 2026 · Centre for the Study of the Afterlife of Violence and the Reparative Quest, Stellenbosch University · Research Presenter
Paper: “Fibres of Testimony”
Artivism Conference
1–3 October 2026 · Tshwane University of Technology, CSIR Convention Centre, Pretoria · Research Presenter
Paper: “The Work of Water: The Ritual of Holding Grief in the Artistic Practice of Papermaking”
Paper: “The Cost of Purification: Sacrifice, Desire, and the Queer Self”
39th SAVAH Conference & Festival: Reaching Sideways, Creating Our Ways
25–28 September 2026 · Rhodes University, Amazwi South African Museum of Literature, Makhanda · Research Presenter
Paper: “The Work of Water: The Ritual of Holding Grief in the Artistic Practice of Papermaking”
Artworks also shown at the accompanying exhibition — see Exhibitions.
4th Annual South African Postgraduate Philosophy Society (SAPPS) Symposium
25–28 June 2026 · University of the Free State, Bloemfontein · Research Presenter
Paper: “Immersion and Emergence: Material Philosophy and the Reconfiguration of Ritual Power”
Making and Interpreting Art 2026: Art Research Futures – Practice, Theory, Method ConferenceFirst conference presentation
27–28 May 2026 · University of Johannesburg, hosted by the SARChI Chair in South African Art and Visual Culture · Research Presenter
Paper: “The Work of Water: The Ritual of Holding Grief in the Artistic Practice of Papermaking”
Publications
Publications will be listed here as they appear.
Press & features
Lakritz THE MAGAZINE