Flowers often appear in my work, quietly radical in their persistence. In nature you’ll find the tiniest flower, hidden in plain sight. Its beauty exists independent of our recognition. They return again and again, embodying cycles of growth, loss, decay and renewal. In their fragile forms, flowers speak a language of resilience, a reminder that even the most delicate things can endure.

Curiosity is at the heart of my practice, often guiding me serendipitously to my subjects. I am drawn in by a visual that reappears over time, nudging me for attention and asking to be painted. Through documentation and research I discover meaning in its symbolism, patterns and forms. Flowers teach me about the transience of life. Moths appear as messengers. The night becomes alive with mystery, reminding me that darkness, too, has its purpose. Slowly, my paintings transform into personal signposts – guiding me towards understanding. 

I use mark making as a tool for expression, prioritising conveying feeling over uniformity of medium; freeing myself to move through figuration and abstraction, drawing and painting, paper and canvas, oil stick and ink. Drawing from Impressionist painters like van Gogh and Monet, I use loose and gestural brushstrokes to capture a fleeting moment allowing shapes to emerge that resist fixed definition. A petal, a brushstroke, a bruise, can hold entire worlds. 

My process is a negotiation between control and chance, structure and free flow. I prepare with sketches and colour studies, but rarely stick to the plan when moving onto canvas. Using ink, I move quickly, allowing intuition to guide each mark and colour.  Holding both fragility and strength, my paintings mirror the ever-shifting experience of being human.

Bio

Ruschka du Toit (b. 1984) lives and works in Cape Town, South Africa. She has presented two solo exhibitions and has participated in group exhibitions with Eclectica Contemporary, 99 Loop Gallery, Reservoir, Strauss & Co, and 50ty/50ty prints at the Cape Town Art Fair (South Africa); Lobster Club Gallery (Los Angeles); and Studio Veive (Amsterdam).

In 2024, she was selected as a finalist for the Delphian Gallery Open Call and subsequently exhibited her work with Delphian Gallery at Unit1 Gallery, London.

In 2025, du Toit completed Sessions, an eight-month studio support programme under the mentorship of Dominique Edwards.