A new solo presentation by Lauren Shantall explores vessels as both metaphor and subject
The newest addition to the Paarl art scene, The Gallery at Avondale at Avondale Wine Estate, is pleased to present Vessels, a new solo presentation by Cape Town-based artist Lauren Shantall. Vessels forms part of a larger group show titled Blooms & Berge. The exhibition runs until 15 November 2026.
Presented within the award-winning Faber restaurant, Vessels brings together a new body of paintings in which the vase and the idea of the vessel become recurring points of departure. Through colour, gesture and an intuitive approach to paint, Shantall explores the vessel not simply as an object, but as a metaphor for holding, receiving, carrying and transformation.
The word vessel has multiple meanings. It describes a container that holds liquid, but it can also refer to something that transports or carries. Traditionally, this was a ship moving across water, and nowadays, it could even mean a ship traversing outer space. These multiple meanings underpin Shantall’s approach to this body of work, extending her ongoing fascination with flowers and plants.
“A vessel is a container that holds water, and vases recur as subjects in this collection of paintings. A vessel is also something that transports you. For me, the act of painting transports me into a different mind-state.”
For Shantall, painting is both a place of arrival and a means of passage. The studio becomes a space in which the everyday can be suspended and another state of consciousness entered. The paintings emerge from this process of movement, where observation and intuition meet.
“The functional and positive purpose of painting in my day-to-day world is that it carries me through life, like a sturdy ship navigating my days,” Shantall explains. “A painter, in my view, is someone who is a holder/receiver of inspiration, which flows like water, and painting is graced.”
In Vessels, this notion of receiving is reflected in the paintings themselves. Vases become more than still-life subjects: they are containers for colour, memory, atmosphere and emotion. “They are receptacles for so much,” Shantall says. “It’s not just about holding flowers. But what the flowers ‘do’ to us. They activate the brain’s feel-good chemicals dopamine, oxytocin and serotonin that boost joy and connection.” Water, conventionally the substance held in vases to keep flowers fresh (sometimes visible in a glass vase, sometimes hidden), becomes an underlying presence, evoking movement and flow.
Shantall’s paintings are grounded in the physical act of making. Brushwork, colour and composition retain a sense of immediacy, allowing the paintings to feel both considered and spontaneous. The vessel provides a familiar visual anchor, while the surrounding spaces open into something more fluid and expressive. Some paintings remain faithfully figurative, while others approach abstraction.
Faber’s setting adds another dimension to the solo presentation. In June this year, the contemporary farm-to-fork restaurant took home four top accolades at the 2026 Haute Grandeur Global Awards including Best Garden Restaurant in Africa, Best Health and Wellness Cuisine in Africa, Best Wine Estate Restaurant in Africa and Best À La Carte Restaurant in Africa. Vessels is intended to be experienced not in isolation, but as part of this wider sensory environment where food is celebrated as an art form. The exhibition invites an encounter between painting, food and place – a pairing of life and still life. “Faber is a garden restaurant, and the focus of my paintings is directly connected to flowers. I have even painted some of the flowers from Avondale’s spectacular gardens.”
Ultimately, Vessels considers what it means to hold and to be carried: to hold inspiration, experience and emotion, and to allow the act of painting to transport us somewhere beyond the ordinary.
Dates: Until 15 November 2026
Visit: www.laurenshantall.com and https://avondalewine.co.za/
Call: +27 (0)21 202-1219
Follow: @laurenshantall and @thegalleryatavondale