Heike is a South African artist specializing in mixed media, printmaking and installation art. Drawing inspiration from her upbringing on a Rose Farm, nature, particularly flora, deeply influences her work. Surrounded by roses since childhood, she possesses a natural understanding and appreciation of the flower’s anatomy, it’s color, form, fragrance and the various uses such as rose water distillation, breeding, and culinary application. For years, she has been captivated by the essence of the rose, pondering why humans are so infatuated with this flower.

Her often large-scale, site-specific installations seamlessly merge with their surroundings while asserting their presence through sheer size, actively intervening in and enhancing the space. She utilizes space, lighting, and color to metamorphose her art, imbuing it with diverse moods and atmospheres. Continuously exploring disciplines & materials such as ink on paper, ceramic, stainless steel, bronze, copper, plastic and material from nature, she molds and challenges these mediums into various forms and shapes, pushing the boundaries of creativity.

Driven by a passion for problem-solving, she thrives on creating commissioned pieces and permanent installations that seamlessly integrate into architectural designs. She believes there’s an energetically compelling synergy when artwork finds its rightful space, melding elements and materials, including empty spaces and unseen potential, into one authentic expression. Since 2006, she has been crafting larger-than-life metal rose sculptures, a testament to her fascination with this iconic flower.

Heike honed her skills and expanded her creative horizons through her studies in Fine Art at the Tshwane University of Technology . She then joined the Interior Architecture Department, finishing with a BTech Cum Laude. She has had the opportunity to share her insights on creativity and the exploration of the rose through radio and TV appearances, spreading awareness and appreciation for the beauty and significance of this timeless symbol.

What others say

“Absolute amazing creativity, honesty & vulnerability. The process is so beautiful to follow and then you see the final work and the alchemy has been reached. It is inspiring.”

– ODETTE REDPATH

“Thank you for creating beauty that you share with us. It is so pure and honest and delicate, but powerful.”

– EMILY VAN HEESCH-SMITH

“You make unusual associations and create new neural pathways, a pioneer and daring spirit who paves the way for others to follow.”

– LESLEY BERGERÉ

“Heike thinks outside the box. She is outside the box.”

– LYNETTE LE ROUX

“Heike has an incredible talent, juxta positioning elements that don’t commonly seem to go together, and this shows that she sees beauty in everything and can bring this into everything she does.”

– SIMONE MICHELE

Heike founded the restaurant ‘The Rose Kitchen’ in 2003 and served a menu inspired by roses. Managing her establishment, being creative with food and roses and working with her team and guests taught her many valuable life lessons. Ludwig’s Roses continues to run the restaurant and make the edible rose products.

Intrigued by the scent of the rose, she researched the medicinal qualities and experimented with distillation of petals to make rose water, used in food and on the body.

She loves communicating and sharing the versatility of the rose in her art and knowledge about fragrance, colour, purpose and the rose as a culinary wonder. She converses in 4 languages and is an inspirational speaker to groups, on radio and TV shows such as Top Billing, Via and Kyknet. It is important to her to expand and share the symbolism of the flora, its power in the kitchen, its medicinal value and its place in history and in art.