For years, Thirza Schaap has transformed plastic collected from the Cape coastline into photographic still lifes that are as beautiful as they are unsettling. In Fatal Flowers, she takes that idea in a new direction, translating those carefully staged compositions into painting.
The shift in medium changes the conversation. Plastic bottles collected from the shoreline become painted vases holding overflowing bouquets. At first glance the works recall the richness of Dutch still life painting, but the vessels reveal something very different. Objects made to be thrown away are given the status of treasured heirlooms, asking viewers to think about what we value and what we leave behind.
Painting also allows Schaap to push colour, light and atmosphere beyond what photography can offer. The result is a series of works that reward slow looking. Beauty draws you in, but the environmental questions remain impossible to ignore.
As Schaap explains, “I am drawn to the contradictions of beauty. A discarded plastic bottle can become as elegant as a porcelain vase, reminding us that the objects we throw away never truly disappear. Through painting, I invite viewers to look beyond the surface, where seduction and discomfort exist together, and where beauty becomes a catalyst for reflection on our relationship with the natural world.”
Rather than illustrating environmental issues directly, Fatal Flowers uses the familiar language of flowers and still life to ask what beauty can reveal about consumption, waste and our relationship with the natural world.
