There is an apparent loss of picture depth or flattening which sets in as a result of the manipulation of the background which indeed constitutes an integral part of each work. The background is reminiscent of the “Pollockian” way of treating the surface by deliberately adding “aggressive” spattering, liberating contrasts and creating texture cracks. Usually artists make it their concern to present the foreground as the primary subject or visual focus, but in these works it appears as if the subject can either be easily camouflaged by the background or the subject can forcefully pop out of the tumultuous  Turner-like background.  

The royal, spontaneous and yet calculated dressing of the background becomes visual music which supports the strategic placement of the often simplistic foreground or subject loudly and this is particularly applicable to the flower studies.    

The trained art viewer or artist can recognise a dedication in the working of the background that bears witness of years of experimentation.  The warmth and intensity in the textures and the variety of colours captured in the background testify that Salomi Prinsloo is an artist who makes it her concern to treat the picture or painting as a complete unit and each part thereof she treats with equal importance.    Each component is artistically described until the whole work becomes a moment of visual “repose” of which the parts cannot be separated and the spectator can be fascinated by the completed work and the detail in particular too.     

Check the galleries section for an update that includes the artwork displayed in the Florence Biennale.

Artist Statement 

Salomi Prinsloo, residing in South Africa, has a passion for this land and it’s people.  This work is a social-politiacal piece speaking on behalf of the all the people of all races and all sections of society who lost their lives by the hand of another person in this beautiful land.

In the diptych, Butchered Rainbow, Salomi is not concerned with capturing the external features of the grassland, but rather infuses it with hidden meaning, exploring and exposing the relevant issue of crime. Beacons plot statistics for murders in South Africa (1:100 000) between 2001 and 2007. Grass swept aside reflects crime flooding the country. A broken rainbow-coloured stream represents the lost hope of a better future for those murdered in the Rainbow Land. The bottom panel reads as a footnote, each mark representing one of the 18700 individuals murdered between 2006 and 2007.