Bridging the Disconnect
by
Grady T Zeeman
6 June 2025
Grady T Zeeman (b South Africa) is a contemporary painter who graduated from Cape Technicon as a Fashion Designer in 1988. She worked as a designer in Cape Town, before marriage and moving back to her home town.
As painting was her first love, she decided to give it more attention. She earnestly developed her technical skills in oil painting, and broadened her knowledge through courses in Art History, navigating the art world and curating exhibitions.
In 2008, she had her first international group exhibition in India, and in October 2020 her first solo exhibition in Rome, Italy. She has participated in various exhibitions in South Africa, USA, UK, Europe, and Asia. Zeeman has also taken part in the Florence Biennale 2011, Siel de Paris 2012, London Biennale 2019, and Amsterdam Art Fair 2019.
Her work has been published in NY Arts Magazine, South African Art Times, Arttour International Magazine (mentioned as a Top Artist to watch in 2018 and 2024), “50 Artists to Watch” 2023 edition by Florence Contemporary, as well as numerous other books and magazines. She has received several art prizes and has been a finalist in a couple of art competitions, as well as a Finalist in the Global Art Awards in Dubai 2017.
From 2011 to 2017 Zeeman was the owner of the Kunstehuijs Art Gallery where she exhibited her own work, as well as the work of other South African artists.
She is currently represented by Artio Gallery - Toronto; Art Screen TV - Basel; Maison Contemporain - Paris; Cavendish Contemporary Gallery - Cape Town
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In our modern era of technology and digital connection, true human communication and meaningful interaction have often become elusive. As Bob Moorehead so aptly observed: "The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings, but shorter tempers; wider Freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less ... We buy more, but enjoy less ... we build more computers to hold more information to produce more copies than ever, but have less communication;”
Despite being more "connected" than ever before through smartphones, social media, and endless messaging platforms, many people feel increasingly isolated, misunderstood, and starved for genuine interaction.
Effective communication is the foundation of strong and healthy connections, yet too many individuals struggle to express their thoughts, feelings, and needs. Addressing the issue of poor communication requires fostering self-awareness, improving active listening skills, and creating safe spaces for open and honest dialogue, which unfortunately is rarely mastered.
Equally concerning is the growing neglect of the relationship and communication with one's spiritual higher self, an essential connection to the divine, and a source of wisdom, guidance, and enlightenment.
My artistic practice explores this disconnect, delving into the psychology of communication in our contemporary world. Through the layering of acrylic and oil paint, as well as the interplay of colours, I aim to create depth and complexity that symbolises the intricacy of human emotions and connectivity.
Ultimately, this body of work serves as a thoughtful reflection on the bittersweet paradoxes that pervade contemporary communication. It invites the viewer to consider how we might reclaim genuine, meaningful dialogue and a sense of community in an age that often appears to work against our most fundamental human needs for connection and understanding.
PLEASE NOTE THAT BUYERS IN PRETORIA WILL ALSO NEED TO PAY A COURIER FEE AS GRADY IS IN CAPE TOWN
Grady T Zeeman - Dialogue Disrupted
Grady T Zeeman
"Dialogue Disrupted"
2025
In this painting, I captured the profound alienation of modern interpersonal communication, where digital connections systematically erode the intimacy of human interaction. The painting confronts viewers with the stark disconnection: a man, his attention completely absorbed by his smartphone, his partner beside him, desperate for attention and deep conversations.

Oil on Canvas
60cm x 60cm
R 45 000
Click here for purchase enquiry
Grady T Zeeman - Digital Divide
Grady T Zeeman
"Digital Divide"
2025
With this painting, I explore the rifts that the digital divide can create within our personal relationships. In our modern world, people are often engaged, sharing ideas, and strengthening bonds through technology, yet they so often miss opportunities for deep, in-person connections right in front of them.

Oil on Canvas
60cm x 60cm
R 45 000
Click here for purchase enquiry
Grady T Zeeman - Disconnected Dialogues
Grady T Zeeman
"Disconnected Dialogues"
2025
In this painting, though the figures are close, their body language and averted gazes suggest a profound disconnect. They inhabit the same physical space, but exist in their own mental and emotional realms, unable or unwilling to truly engage with one another.

Oil on Canvas
60cm x 60cm
R 45 000
Click here for purchase enquiry
Grady T Zeeman - Fractured Frequencies
Grady T Zeeman
"Fractured Frequencies"
2025
In this work, I capture the moment when a couple's conversation disintegrates into conflict - not through physical gestures of anger, but through the subtle visual language of misalignment. This work invites viewers to reflect on those moments when we stand face-to-face with someone we love, speaking different emotional languages despite sharing the same physical space.

Oil on Canvas
60cm x 60cm
R 45 000
Click here for purchase enquiry
Grady T Zeeman - Fruitless Dialogue
Grady T Zeeman
"Fruitless Dialogue"
2025
In this painting I explore the subtle dynamics of human connection and disconnection through the portrayal of an intimate yet fractured exchange between two individuals. I invite viewers to recognize patterns from their own relationships—those moments when vulnerability meets indifference, when one soul reaches outward while another retreats inward. The space between the figures serves as the true subject of the painting—a visual representation of emotional distance that exists even in physical proximity.

Oil on Canvas
60cm x 60cm
R 45 000
Click here for purchase enquiry
Grady T Zeeman - Generation Gap
Grady T Zeeman
"Generation Gap"
2025
The generational divide is a universal experience that transcends time and culture. In this painting, I aim to explore the complexities of the generation gap - the disconnect in values, perspectives, and modes of communication that can arise between older and younger individuals, further aggravated by the rapid pace of technological advancement.

Oil on Canvas
60cm x 60cm
R 45 000
Click here for purchase enquiry
Grady T Zeeman - Hopeless Interchange
Grady T Zeeman
"Hopeless Interchange"
2025
This painting captures the agonizing disconnect between a couple who used to be intimate partners. The gulf between them is palpable, a chasm that neither seems able or willing to bridge. This work explores the profound loneliness that can arise when one person emotionally withdraws, leaving the other to wrestle with feelings of abandonment and hopelessness.

Oil on Canvas
60cm x 60cm
R 45 000
Click here for purchase enquiry
Grady T Zeeman - Shattered Reflections
Grady T Zeeman
"Shattered Reflections"
2025
In this work, I aim to explore the fracturing impact of cyber bullying on identity and self-perception in our digital age. When someone is repeatedly targeted online, the cruel words and harsh judgments begin to infiltrate their self-concept. The constant bombardment of negative messages—whether about appearance, intelligence, personality, or social status—can gradually be accepted as truth.

Oil on Canvas
60cm x 60cm
R 45 000
Click here for purchase enquiry
Grady T Zeeman - Unspoken Divide
Grady T Zeeman
"Unspoken Divide"
2025
This painting explores the profound silence that can develop between two people who once shared everything. Engrossed in their individual digital lives, this work captures that moment when silence transforms from comfortable to suffocating, when the weight of unspoken words becomes too heavy to bear. This work serves as a meditation on the gradual erosion of intimacy, the way love can slip through fingers like sand, not in dramatic storms, but in the quiet moments of disconnection that accumulate over time

Oil on Canvas
60cm x 60cm
R 45 000
Click here for purchase enquiry
Grady T Zeeman - Viral Whispers
Grady T Zeeman
"Viral Whispers"
2025
In this work, I explore the paradoxical intimacy and disconnection of modern social interaction through the lens of digital gossip. The painting captures two individuals sharing a moment of complicity as they view someone else's social media presence—their laughter both connecting them to each other while simultaneously creating distance from the unseen subject of their amusement.

Oil on Canvas
60cm x 60cm
R 45 000
Click here for purchase enquiry
Grady T Zeeman - Disconnected
Grady T Zeeman
"Disconnected"
2024
In this oil painting, I aimed to capture a moment of disconnect amidst connectivity, using vibrant, yet melancholic strokes inherent to expressionism. The juxtaposition of individuals absorbed in their separate worlds, despite their physical proximity, mirrors contemporary societal interactions.

Oil on Canvas
70cm x 100cm
R 67 000
Click here for purchase enquiry
Grady T Zeeman - Observing
Grady T Zeeman
"Observing"
2024
Through this artwork, I aim to evoke the shared yet unique experiences of humankind, highlighting how public spaces serve as the stage for life's quiet dramas and how we are sometimes more focused on other people than those next to us.

Oil on Canvas
70cm x 100cm
R 67 000
Click here for purchase enquiry
Grady T Zeeman - Chitter-Chatter
Grady T Zeeman
"Chitter-Chatter"
2024
In this painting I hope to convey a lively, hopeful ambiance that elevates any space with a reminder of the joy found in human connection.

Oil on Canvas
70cm x 100cm
R 67 000
Click here for purchase enquiry
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