Tyrrel Thaysen was born in Knysna and devoted all his free time to creating art. He studied at the Michaelis school of Fine Art (1990- 1993) and passed with a first class diploma in sculpture. He was awarded the Montagu White Bursary for overseas study (1995). In the late nineties he worked at the District Six Museum.
Thaysen was artist-in-residence at the Greatmore Art Studios in Woodstock from 2004-2006. In 2004 and 2005 he was selected as finalist in the Brett Kebble Art Awards in three different categories and in 2005 he was awarded the Triangle Arts Residency at the Vermont Studio Centre (United States).
He has participated in numerous group shows both nationally and internationally and had two solo exhibitions at the Association for Visual Arts in Cape Town. He is currently working as visual artist from his home in Summergreens.The work on exhibit explores the human body and the discovery of one’s sexuality and sexual orientation. It is an investigation of the self: physically, emotionally, spiritually and intellectually.
