PRESS RELEASE
LORIENNE LOTZ | Uncommon Sense
Aug 6 – Sep 19, 2026
My work explores questions of truth, power and oppression in an increasingly post-truth world. I am interested in the absurdities and contradictions of the human condition and in the ways the political and personal inevitably become intertwined.
This body of work emerges from a world that feels increasingly fractured. Where labels and categories often replace our shared humanity. Like Alice in Wonderland, I find myself navigating a landscape in which familiar structures no longer hold, where perspective shifts constantly and any fixed point of reference becomes elusive. Unlike Wonderland, however, there is no awakening and no return; there are only the lasting consequences of our individual and collective actions.
The world around us reflects the shadows of human nature, exposing the imbalances and dissonances that shape both society and ourselves. The struggle to find equilibrium between opposing forces, whether within the social, political, psychological realm or within myself, becomes the driving force behind my work. There is no escaping our own shadows, nor the ironies embedded within the stories we tell ourselves. We are, at once, both oppressors and victims.
This body of work emerges from a world that feels increasingly fractured. Where labels and categories often replace our shared humanity. Like Alice in Wonderland, I find myself navigating a landscape in which familiar structures no longer hold, where perspective shifts constantly and any fixed point of reference becomes elusive. Unlike Wonderland, however, there is no awakening and no return; there are only the lasting consequences of our individual and collective actions.
The world around us reflects the shadows of human nature, exposing the imbalances and dissonances that shape both society and ourselves. The struggle to find equilibrium between opposing forces, whether within the social, political, psychological realm or within myself, becomes the driving force behind my work. There is no escaping our own shadows, nor the ironies embedded within the stories we tell ourselves. We are, at once, both oppressors and victims.
Drawing on imagery from art history, literature and the rich absurdity of idiom, I return to recurring human narratives that reverberate across time, connecting past and present. From historical allegory to satire and commonplace expressions, these references become vehicles for examining power, vulnerability and the contradictions of human behaviour. The enduring coexistence of tenderness and brutality, humour and terror, is echoed in my process, in which images emerge through cycles of construction, erasure and revision. Figures appear and dissolve, gestures are interrupted and surfaces carry traces of what has been concealed as well as what has been revealed.
These works do not seek resolution. Instead, they inhabit the space between order and chaos, clarity and confusion, hope and disillusionment. I am interested in what happens when absurdity is no longer hidden beneath the surface but becomes the surface itself. Rather than offering answers, the paintings remain open to complexity in a world that increasingly rewards certainty over understanding. The question is no longer how to make sense of the world, but how to remain human within its unravelling.
These works do not seek resolution. Instead, they inhabit the space between order and chaos, clarity and confusion, hope and disillusionment. I am interested in what happens when absurdity is no longer hidden beneath the surface but becomes the surface itself. Rather than offering answers, the paintings remain open to complexity in a world that increasingly rewards certainty over understanding. The question is no longer how to make sense of the world, but how to remain human within its unravelling.
For any further enquiries please contact gallery@everard.co.za
