Gallery installation view
Above: Berry Meyer in her studio with works in progress. Right (below on mobile) : BERRY MEYER on her creative process for creating her collages.
“Warm colours are always starting point for me with collage since those are generally the hues you’ll find in flora; which is my biggest collection. Even though I would set my intention on a specific subject matter when I start creating, the work always speaks of the relationship between humans and nature or the performativity of gender.”
- Berry Meyer
Berry Meyer is a collage artist deeply embedded in the medium of printed images. She holds no hierarchies in her pursuit of the often-discarded paper artefacts of yesteryear. She constantly scours second-hand bookshops, thrift stores, and flea markets and will cut out, mount, and prepare images long before the idea for a particular work begins. Collage is both a tool of her art-making and an integral part of its meaning. Working from her raw image library she constructs thoughtful three-dimensional comments on time, race, sexuality, and popular culture.
BERRY MEYER
Gentileza Gera Gentileza, 2021 | Duifie, 2021
Paper assemblage, found object
115 x 110 x 55 mm dimensions variable | 145 x 145 x 85 mm dimensions variable
“The title, When it’s hot out and you wanna have a good time, gave me that feeling of excited spontaneity that comes with the first hot day of spring. Everything looks different, more optimistic, more playful; there is a general sense of celebration, a reason that brings people together. For this exhibition, I pushed the boundaries of my practice by playing with colour much more freely to express these emotions that summer evokes.”
- Emma Nourse
Gallery installation view
EMMA NOURSE
From left to right:
Goodnight, 2021; Cool Breeze, 2020; In Full Bloom, 2021; Loose 2020; How Lovely, 2021.
“For this show, I did a lot of research into colour trends and more unexpected colour combinations. I found myself very inspired by the colour palettes and subject matter of holiday destinations; the blues and stark whites contrasted with bougainvillia pinks found in Greece, the cool greens and rich ochres of swimming pools in Morocco, ice-cream tones of the Nubian villages in Egypt, the intricate tiles of Turkish mosques, deep jungle greens of the Amazon, and ever-changing blues of the Mediterranean sea in Italy.”
- Jessica Bosworth Smith
Working primarily in gouache and using thorough visual research, Jessica Bosworth Smith uses her artwork to both re-experience places she has travelled to and to weave together extravagant scenes which are neither feasible or, seemingly, practical. The artist loves to create seemingly familiar scenes through a maximalist lens; using a riot of pattern, texture, and detail. Bosworth Smith’s love of cats and the strange cultural significance of the trope of the “cat lady” has demarcated her paintings as zones of play where she explores themes of being alone without being lonely, covetousness without jealousy, and passionate collecting of things without obsession.
Above: Lené Ehlers in her studio in Cape Town. Right (below on mobile) : LENÉ EHLERS on the source of her inspiration and colour palette choices for When it’s hot out and you wanna have a good time.
“My subject matter was inspired by my journey into floristry, which started in 2016, while I studied my post-grad in illustration. Being inspired by botanicals, I was drawn to earthy colours; like musty greens, dark emerald green, pale pinks and rich ochres. I added a touch of powder blue and turquoise to add that summery feeling; drops of red in drooping tulips to serve as a reminder to trust your blood. I feel these botanical pieces are an ode to my journey. They remind you to follow your heart and intuition in new and unexpected avenues because it wants to reveal something of yourself to you.”
- Lené Ehlers
Gallery installation view
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LENÉ EHLERS
To Serve (As a Reminder), 2020
Mixed media on paper
390 x 460 mm Framed -
LENÉ EHLERS
Learning What is Worth Keeping, 2020
Mixed media on paper
385 x 370 mm Framed -
LENÉ EHLERS
Trust Your Blood, 2020
Mixed media on paper
370 x 410 mm Framed -
LENÉ EHLERS
Finding Spaces Between Moments, 2020
Mixed media on paper
330 x 330 mm Framed
Concepts of journey, self-discovery, and narrative are often explored in Ehlers’ pieces. The emotional value of colours and the careful combinations of hues and tones serve as a start point for many pieces. The artist’s works - executed in collage, ink, gouache, and water-based pigments on paper - strike a balance between spontaneous mark-making, chance, and considered details.
Give Your Tears to the Summer, 2020
Die Onskuld Self, 2021
To Cling To, 2021
Any Simple Thing, 2021“I do think there is a spontaneity in my life that resembles that of my work, I struggle with routine and monotony and although (like with my painting) sometimes I find it comforting to have a plan, most of the time the works I’m the happiest with are completely spontaneous.”
- Marolize Southwood
Marolize Southwood’s work demonstrates her deep fascination with the human condition and our proclivity to construct our own reality using bold, joyful, and textured brushwork. The artist is based in Cape Town. Southwood completed her BAFA at the Michaelis School of Fine Art in 2017. She was born in Potchefstroom and grew up in Viljoenskroon, a small town in the Free State. At Michaelis, Marolize majored in photography but has since expanded her practice to include painting.
Above: Tara Deacon in her studio in Berlin. Right (below on mobile) : TARA DEACON on her own interpretation of the exhibition title.
“Much of the title, When it’s hot out and you wanna have a good time, actually evokes feelings of ambivalence of the summer season; occasionally being washed over with feelings of a kind of 'summertime sadness' while, on the other hand, stirring up fond memories of sweltering hot days spent lazily doing nothing in the sun with no plans or fixed agenda.”
- Tara Deacon
TARA DEACON
A Kind Of Blue, 2020
Gouache and pencil on paper
490 x 660 mm Framed
