Ever Changing Dance
2025
99 Loop Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
“Ever Changing Dance is 99 Loop's first duo-show of the year. The presentation explores different facets of abstraction by bringing together Olivia Botha's paintings and Michael Bräuer's ceramic works. Here, the soft swirls of Botha's oil paint contrast the rugged texture of Bräuer's deconstructed ceramics. The resulting show provides a peaceful respite in which viewers can let their mind wander in form, pattern and the open-ended nature of abstraction.”
— 99 Loop Gallery
At the beginning of this year, 2025, I moved into my new studio in Bonn, Germany, and began creating this new series of paintings — the first works I have made after a year-long battle with cancer.
In April 2024, at the age of 33, I was unexpectedly diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer. My life was turned upside down, consumed by the urgent need to fight for my health. After a major operation and six months of chemotherapy, I was declared in remission on the
very last day of 2024. While I continue with regular check-ups every three months for the next two years, reaching the five-year mark would mean being considered a person of normal risk again.
This body of work reflects the profound transformation I have undergone during this time. It is about celebrating life and new beginnings while also acknowledging the pain and uncertainty that can come with it. It honours both light and darkness, joy and struggle —the ever-present dichotomies that shape our existence. As the title of the exhibition suggests, life itself is an Ever Changing Dance.