Above and Beyond (2026) – hand-pulled screen print by Kirsten Sims.

Painter and illustrator Kirsten Sims (b. 1987) is a master of gentle parody, using idiosyncratic characters, gestural brushstrokes, emotive colour and irresistible humour to draw in the viewer to consider subjects that hide – however subtly – beneath the surface. Portraying narrative scenes both fanciful and familiar, her work explores the literal and psychosocial dimensions of place, whether crowded sartorial scene or serene landscape, recognisable vista or exotic escape. It’s a theme informed by a very personal approach; each artwork indicative of her current interior landscape, of her place within a place; each artwork a combination of autobiographical elements dressed up in festivity and fiction. This subjectivity lends itself to an organic process of painting, a style Sims refers to as “a combination of imagination and observation”, facilitated by acrylic paint and the freedom it gives her “to be experimental, accidental and playful”.

Sims has held several sell-out solo shows in South Africa and Canada, and participated in numerous group exhibitions and art fairs. Her illustration work has been commissioned for significant corporates and publications, including the New Yorker magazine and children’s book Balthazar the Great.

• 4-colour  hand-pulled screen print on archival board
• Paper size: 1200 x 815 mm
• Limited edition of 11
• Numbered and signed by the artist
• Embossed with the studio signature stamp
• Hand-printed in South Africa at Black River Studio
• No international shipping available on this artwork