ABOUT
I am interested in the space of being in between, and the movements of gestural lines that come free from the weight of thoughts. At the core of my work lies the concept of layering and the conversations that transpire in the process of layering. They are layers of reflection; isolating portraits for the first and last time in fleeting impressions applied through various printmaking processes; or the layering of ephemeral moments on film that live eternally in my double exposures.
Monique Prinsloo is a Fine Artist who lives and works in Cape Town, South Africa. In 2009 she graduated at the University of Stellenbosch with an honours degree in Visual Arts, where she was the recipient of the Timo Smuts Award. Thereafter Monique completed her Masters Degree in Fine Art (MFA) at Michaelis School of Fine Art (UCT) in February 2012. Her MFA thesis, titled "Falling into Gentle Ruin," delved into the exploration of inspiration derived from a diverse collection of found images, objects, and writings. Notably, her triptych "Hand on Hand; On a Cold Hand," which was part of her Masters submission, earned her recognition as a finalist for the ABSA L'Atelier Award in 2012.
In 2013 she received a grant from the National Arts Council of South Africa to attend the Nes artist residency Iceland. In 2017 Monique attended two Artist in Residence programs at Roundabout LX and Hangar, both in Lisbon, Portugal. Her visual direction was sought after for an exhibition titled "Saudade" at the Expatriate Archive Center in The Hague, Netherlands, where she was commissioned to contribute works centred on images, text, and objects from the EAC archive. The exhibition, which showcased the works of ten international artists, toured throughout the Netherlands in 2018.
In 2023 she participated in a sound experience composed and curated by Annemie du Plessis titled Wood & Water. The three composed pieces were performed live by a chamber orchestra and four vocalists, accompanied by a visual component executed by Monique.
In 2024 she was included in a group exhibition curated by Heidi Erdmann titled Being/Present - a response to the categorisation of, and disconnection from, current discourse surrounding recently deceased artists. Erdmann paired the work from contemporary practising artists with those who have passed away within the last decade, all anchored around very specific talking points as a way to initiate new conversations in the now.
Monique has exhibited her work in numerous group exhibitions in and around Southern Africa, and continues to implement her abstracted visual narratives in the printmaking and photographic mediums.
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