Raised in Roodepoort and a graduate of the University of Johannesburg with a BA in Fine Arts, her work explores the body as a site of memory, resistance, and transformation.
Rooted in themes of femininity, sexuality, and emotional extremity, Tlatsi’s practice pushes against expectations of beauty and decorum – favoring honesty, excess, and rupture.
Her pieces often go back and forth between figuration and abstraction, balancing tenderness with violence. She is currently developing A Woman, A Weapon, a body of work that embraces the monstrous, the sensual, and the unapologetically bold.
“I create art focused on the body – not just its appearance, but how it feels, remembers, fights back, and eventually breaks down. I’m really drawn to the messy side of being human, especially when it comes to femininity, sexuality, and emotional highs and lows. My work moves between drawing, painting, and collage, often mixing figurative and abstract styles to capture the tension between softness and violence, beauty and ugliness, control and chaos.
There’s a lot of vulnerability in my work, but it’s anything but delicate. I think a lot about transformation and what it means to come undone, to be raw, and to experience both rage and desire simultaneously. I enjoy experimenting with fragmented shapes and layered textures, using the body as a form of memory and a tool. My work isn’t about making things pretty; it’s about being real, even when that honesty can feel a bit sharp or uncomfortable.”
