Born in Johannesburg in 1964, Rory Prinsloo is currently based between studios in Lanseria, Johannesburg and Fratte Rosa in Italy. Working across sculpture, drawing, and mixed media, his practice is guided by an ongoing inquiry into what it means to be human in a world where identity is constantly shaped by memory, fear, longing, inherited narratives, and the flood of contemporary imagery.

Rather than beginning with fixed concepts, Prinsloo’s process is intuitive and exploratory. His works often emerge from fleeting feelings, visual fragments, or instinctive impulses, evolving organically through making. By relinquishing control and allowing the process to unfold, he creates pieces that feel alive, responsive, searching, and open-ended.

Central to his practice is a belief in the immediacy of art: its ability to move beyond language and connect with viewers on a deeper, more instinctive level. His work invites slow engagement, resisting instant consumption in favour of gradual revelation. Like thoughts that linger and resurface, his pieces unfold over time, rewarding sustained attention.

Rooted firmly in studio practice, Prinsloo’s work is shaped through cycles of making, revising, and reworking. Notebooks, collected references, and quiet observations of everyday life, drawn from people, language, culture, and the natural world, form a reservoir of material that gradually finds expression. For Prinsloo, there is no final arrival point for an artist; the work remains an evolving record of inquiry, at times uncertain, playful, or weighty, but always in motion.

Disclaimer:

Actual colours may vary slightly from the images shown, due to lighting when photographed, and colour variations in monitors and on phone screens.