Not everything needs to be explained. Tanja Truscott’s ‘Without Words’ at Sisonke Gallery

In a world sodden with images, opinions and noise, Cape Town–based artist Tanja Truscott is asking something quieter of us: to look, to pause…and to feel. 

Running at Sisonke Gallery from 03 March to 31 May 2026, ‘Without Words’ is her new solo exhibition of abstract drawings on paper, presented by House Union Block (HUB). Truscott was a Nando’s Creative Exchange (NCX) participant in 2024 and the exhibition extends the support and momentum fostered through the programme, which is facilitated by HUB. 

The show offers a considered counterpoint to the speed and noise of contemporary visual culture, inviting viewers to spend time with work that resists explanation and rewards stillness.

Rather than drawing with pencil, Truscott uses oil paint on carefully prepared paper, allowing the linework to take centre stage. Some drawings hold faint traces of real-world references (a garden, a figure, a place), while others emerge without any external reference at all. In these works, line becomes an expression of feeling rather than depiction.

‘The title “Without Words” reflects how I hope the exhibition is experienced,’ says Truscott. ‘It doesn’t ask the viewer to understand or decode anything. It simply invites them to be open to what they see and feel.’

Following years focused on large-scale painting, this body of work marks a return to drawing for the artist. Created in the second half of 2025 and early 2026, the drawings relate closely to one another through shared tones and gestures, offering rhythm across the exhibition space.

Working on paper felt ‘accessible and freeing’, allowing for experimentation, repetition and risk. Each drawing begins with the paper being sealed to create a slick surface. From there, Truscott works slowly and attentively, choosing brushes, limiting her colour palette, and allowing the work to unfold through a quiet, almost meditative process.

‘Without Words’ is gentle yet resolute: an exhibition that reminds us that meaning doesn’t always need to be articulated, and that sometimes the most resonant encounters happen when influence, comparison and commentary fall away.

All works in the exhibition are available for sale. 

All the details:
When: 3 March to 31 May 2026.
Where: Sisonke Gallery, Cape Heritage Hotel, 90 Bree Street, Cape Town

For more on Sisonke, visit www.capeheritage.co.za/sisonke-gallery/ 

For more information on HUB visit https://houseunionblock.co.za/

Instagram: @house_union_block, @sisonke.gallery 

Facebook: House Union Block