In her show Arc and Toll, Anna van der Ploeg doesn't radically challenge what art looks like. It appears familiar, traditional even. There are figures of naked women and detailed figurative drawings of a beekeeper. There's an image of a ray of sunlight stretching across the floor of an empty room, warming up a plant.It's the back story to the art that counts. She uses art to understand her work as a beekeeper; she is interested in the literal dynamics (between her and the bees) but also in the metaphorical meaning that can be extracted from this precarious activity.It's refreshing to encounter this on the Cape Town art scene, where young artists tend to make art their work rather than let their work drive their art. There is a difference.Van der Ploeg is fascinated by humankind's relationship with Mother Nature, which is highlighted by her beekeeping. This is reflected in her colour palette and sometimes her medium too.Seemingly abstract works made from rust and salt are spread across the paper as if blown by a gust of wind. Moving between shades of cerulean to vivid indigo blues, to earthy brown and orange tones, Van der Ploeg dives headlong into the natural world, touching the earth and the sky. Or maybe she's hovering somewhere in between? This idea suits her art, which is centred on a subject who wears protective gear at all times and is suspended, or held in place, by nature.Discernible brush strokes appear like waves that wrap around and support this floating female form. You can't help thinking that this figure is Van der Ploeg - whose work is beekeeping. She never reveals the identity of this female subject as her protective hat obscures her face. It keeps her at a remove too, from nature and the viewer, positioning her as the ultimate observer - though her work tests this role. Sensitive observation of the behaviour of bees surely demands a level of immersion?The quality of the art is a little uneven. Some works are well executed, poetic and aptly convey the sense of flowing through and against nature.Others are not so successful - such as a portrait painted on gauze.Beekeeping and art might not be worlds apart. Van der Ploeg has managed to weave these activities together and, surprisingly, they have delivered her to a similar place - a confrontation of the self.As she notes: "To work with bees I've had to lose the sense of myself as a being distinct from them."This could be said to be the case with self-portraiture too - and maybe even art making. At some point an artist should be less self-consciousness about being an artist.Working as a beekeeper has afforded Van der Ploeg this distance, while at the same time has brought her back into her art.'Arc and Toll' shows at Smith Gallery, Cape Town, until October 8. This article has been sponsored by the gallery..