Raised in a funeral home in what was once the Transvaal, Wim van Zyl grew up surrounded by death. While religion offered little comfort, he discovered a fascination with the beauty of objects, symbols, and the mysteries of existence. From childhood he collected curiosities—animal skulls, heirlooms, market finds—that would later form the foundation of his art.

A midlife crisis became his turning point. Worried that he might no longer cut hair, Wim explored tarot, taxidermy, and ritual, seeking meaning beyond his craft. Out of this search emerged his first major work, Emerging the Chrysalis of Being, which marked the beginning of his Tabernacle of Memories series. Like the biblical Tabernacle, his art became a vessel for both relics and reverence—balancing life and death, presence and absence, sacred and profane.

Motifs of skulls and wings, saints and symbols, recur throughout his work, framed by the language of tarot. Each assemblage is both a cabinet of curiosities and a meditation on transformation. As Wim explains, “My art is a way of honouring objects.”

Beyond the studio, his hair salon and home echo the same philosophy: spaces overflowing with collected treasures, curated like living museums. He jokes about his own final display: “When I die, I want to be embalmed in a glass box in my museum. Make me a saint!”

Ultimately, Wim’s practice is about balance and meaning-making—transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary. His sculptures carry his blood, sweat, and tears, embodying both mortality and transcendence. “I don’t want to die,” he says. “I want to live forever as white light.”