A vivid exploration of colour at Sisonke Gallery, Cape Town

How does a jolt of neon pink against muted greens affect your emotional state? What sensations arise when metallic gold weaves through layers of electric blue? These are the questions Cape Town-based artist Debbie Field invites viewers to consider in her latest exhibition, Is it ok to use neons?

The psychology of colour has long examined how different hues influence human behaviour, emotions and perceptions. Field builds on this rich tradition, pushing boundaries with contemporary pigments. From layers of vibrant neons and fluorescents emerges an immersive exploration of pigment and texture, as colours play across the surfaces of canvas, board and paper deliberately chosen to evoke immediate emotional responses before inviting intellectual analysis.

Selected for the Nando’s Creative Exchange 2025, Field has run practical art workshops for UCT Summer School and ceramic studios across South Africa. Her approach embodies Virginia Woolf’s sentiment ‘I am in the mood to dissolve in the sky’, creating works where the boundaries between observer and artwork blur,  leaving only the pure experience of colour itself.

About the artist

Debbie Field explores the intersection of colour and emotion in abstract pieces that challenge traditional perceptions. She has run practical art workshops for UCT Summer School, has been invited to offer workshops in the UK at Seawhite Studios, has managed several ceramic studios and collaborated with dancer Balu Nivison to develop the MovingArts programme, which uses dance as a vehicle for healing and creative expression. She holds a teaching degree with a major in art from the University of Witwatersrand (1984) and currently resides and teaches from her studio in Cape Town. Her work can be found in private collections in South Africa and abroad.

For more information about Sisonke Gallery and its exhibitions, visit Sisonke Gallery or follow @sisonkegallery on Instagram.