In If You Tear the Paper, the Ship Will Sink, Johannesburg artist Kyra Papé Holz continues her investigation of material, gesture and unstable boundaries through abstract drawing.
Working intuitively, Papé Holz allows repetition and control to meet fluid, spontaneous mark-making. Her recent work has become increasingly concerned with fragility, change and the attempt to find balance within experiences that resist easy explanation. The exhibition’s title captures that tension: the sense that a small disruption can alter an entire structure.
Drawing remains central to Papé Holz’s practice, alongside printmaking and sculpture. Rather than beginning with a fixed image or narrative, she works through the physical behaviour of her materials, using abstraction as a way of processing experience and making sense of uncertainty.
Born in Johannesburg in 1993, Papé Holz holds a Master of Arts in Fine Arts by Research from the University of the Witwatersrand. Her work has appeared in numerous exhibitions and awards programmes, including the PPC Imaginarium Awards, Absa Atelier, Art Bank South Africa and Sasol New Signatures.
