Sanell Aggenbach presents NeoNature, a new body of work opening in Johannesburg on 10 April 2026, with an artist walkabout on Saturday 11 April at 11:00.
The exhibition draws on themes of transformation and instability drawn from the classical text Metamorphoses by Ovid. In the poem’s mythology, humans, gods and elements of the natural world continually shift into new forms, people become trees, rivers, animals or stars, suggesting that change is the fundamental force governing existence.
Aggenbach revisits a concept she explored in earlier work: Atopia, a notion of rootlessness expressed through botanical hybrids. By combining paper, metal and wood, she constructs sculptural forms that appear familiar yet altered, evoking species that might exist in a world shaped by ecological pressure and cultural upheaval.
The exhibition reflects on the contemporary moment, where political instability, environmental change and technological disruption are reshaping global society. Within this context, NeoNature proposes a speculative natural history in which artworks function as hybrid organisms or pseudo-scientific specimens.
Aggenbach’s approach also references the early documentation of nature by the Roman author Pliny the Elder, whose encyclopaedic work Natural History famously blended empirical observation with myth and folklore. In a similar spirit, NeoNature presents paintings as imagined field studies while sculptures appear as newly discovered botanical forms.
The works combine wonder, humour and unease, reflecting on the fragile balance between creativity, culture and knowledge in a rapidly transforming world.
Artist
Sanell Aggenbach
