Maria Uys is a Cape Town-based surface designer and a 2015 Emerging Creative

Maria Uys has a degree in surface design from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology. While studying she did an internship at the University of Cape Town Drama department, creating felted jewellery pieces for a stage production.

Inspired by psychology, people and cultures, Uys created her Afri-Garde product range as part of her thesis. This is a collection of African Ndebele-inspired, hand-felted neck pieces. Uys uses charcoal, grey, white and orange wool to create this exclusive range. The pieces aim to capture the essence of the past through mimicking traditional body adornment, while creating a fresh aesthetic. The geometric shapes and straight lines of the designs are in stark contrast to the natural hand-felted material which is used to cover it.