'Aloes are a very South African plant, they grow easily and we are all used to them. I like how common they are, and the way their shapes contort across...
'Aloes are a very South African plant, they grow easily and we are all used to them. I like how common they are, and the way their shapes contort across the white space. There’s lots of nature in my work, but often with bits of human insertions, which to me are a kind of violence, full of hubris.
The red balloon is one of those insertions – a piece of obscenity, but just so pleasing to look at. I often have the thought that putting something like that in a painting should be a small crime, perhaps punishable with a fine. The two little sunbirds valiantly fight their corner, in the face of all this nonsense. And the gold ribbon winds in and out of the space, so that it’s almost like the painting is a present.'