Dustin August, Soliloquy in Silence, plaster and acrylic paint, 2025

Independent and self-taught, Johannesburg-based multi-disciplinary visual artist Dustin August works across photography, graphic design, and illustration. With a formal background in architecture, he brings structural precision and spatial sensitivity to his creative practice. His work is grounded in process and experimentation, often returning to themes of deconstruction, layering, and transparency.

August’s art serves as a stylised portrait of the queer body—fluid, evolving, and deeply personal—driven by a commitment to capturing the full breadth of the queer experience. His approach is both experimental and intentional, using materiality to explore presence, identity, and visibility.

In 2022, August created his first public mural with HALLS at The Playground in Braamfontein, which appeared on the cover of BIZART magazine (Issue 03, Spring 2022). He has since completed murals at Blackbrick Hotel in Sandton and Math Restaurant in Waterfall, exhibited at Open Studios at August House (2023) and Turbine Art Fair (2024), and is currently part of the RMB Talent Unlocked 2024 programme.

Soliloquy in Silence continues his tactile, layered exploration of identity, combining plaster and acrylic to create a textured, intimate reflection on selfhood and the quiet resilience found in personal truth.