Artists We Love: Donna Solovei

WORDS Katharine Jacobs

The almost-not-there shade the sky turns moments after sunset, or the play of lights at night in a sea of blackness: these are the fleeting moments captured in Donna Solovei’s Unforeseen Curiosities, currently on show at Kleinsky’s Delicatessen in Sea Point.

And while the monotypes may seem simple at first glance, these subtle, quiet works, which barely hint at a jellyfish, or a fragment of lacy seaweed, seem to linger in one’s mind.

The Stimulus

“This work is very much based on the nature in Cape Town,” says Donna, who took inspiration from her regular visits to Llandudno Beach, where she lives. “Every discovery was a surprise. Some days it would be a jellyfish; other days the way water lines formed on the sand. The collection is about bringing my experience in nature back to the printmaking studio.”

“The work was created over a period of six months,” explains Donna. “I began with an interest in global warming and the melting of icebergs.” As the seasons moved from summer to winter, her palette evolved from subtle colours and the layering of transparent pastels to darker, more dramatic pieces and techniques.

The Process

Born in South Africa, Donna trained in the UK at the Chelsea College of Art and Camberwell College of Art, but returned to SA eight years ago. She worked with paint, drawings and three-dimensional objects, before her heart drew her back to the printing press.

The process of making a monotype is itself an unpredictable and transitory one. The artist builds up an image with several layers of ink on a plate, which is then put through a press to reveal an image. Unlike an etching or lithograph, each monotype is a one-off.

“Every single time I am in the studio, I learn something new,” she says. “What I spent more and more time on, was mixing up the palette.” Donna works with just red, yellow, blue, black and white, so the process of mixing her complex, faded colours is a fine-tuned one. “Sometimes I almost ran out of time to actually print.”

As Donna became more confident, she also experimented more. “I began to play with various materials such as tracing paper, silk and tissue paper, with thoughts of sensitivity and being delicate yet strong. I myself became a more confident and experimental printmaker.”

Unforeseen Curiosity is currently on show at Kleinsky’s Delicatessen in Sea Point, open 8am – 5pm, Mondays to Fridays and 8am­ – 3pm, Saturdays and Sundays.

Check out Donna’s website to see her previous pet world works – a series of detailed hybrid animals, which eventually ended up on cushion covers, her ongoing project of striped animals and her range of wallpaper with Robin Sprong.