This February, Art@Africa presents The Ocean Between Us Is One, a new sculptural body of work by Cape Town-based artist Olivia Dunkley, opening on 19 February 2026 at the gallery’s home in the Clock Tower Centre at the V&A Waterfront.
At its heart, the exhibition is an ode to reconnection, a poetic meditation on humanity’s shared lineage with the living ocean. Through the archetypal figure of Sirena, a primordial guardian of the sea, Dunkley unfolds a myth of remembrance, healing and belonging. Each sculpture becomes a chapter in Sirena’s story, from the Whale’s gravity, to the Ray’s dance, to the Wave’s renewal, suggesting that the boundaries between human and nature, self and sea, may be illusions of our own making.
In this world, healing begins where we listen, and where we move again in rhythm with the tides that formed us.
The Story of Sirena
Before memory had a name, there was Sirena, the first watcher of the sea. She was not born, but gathered, drawn from the breath between tide and starlight. Her pulse was the current, her body the horizon. Through her gaze, the ocean dreamed itself awake.
In the beginning, the world was quiet and the water spoke only in motion. Sirena felt the stir of life within her, the deep heartbeats of whales, the silver songs of fish, the slow devotion of coral. When humankind rose from the shoreline, she watched with wonder, knowing all things born of earth are kin, divided only by forgetting.
Ages passed, and the forgetting deepened. The sea grew heavy with noise and absence, yet Sirena remained, not in anger, but in hope. She understood what the ocean never forgets, connection is not a metaphor, but a structure. Every ripple touches the next. Every hand in the water changes its song.
So she rises again, not as a warning, but as a reminder. Through her companions, the Whale, the Ray, and the Wave, she retells the story of interdependence, courage to begin, grace to move, and trust to return. The ocean between us is not a distance, it is a mirror. And when we look long enough, we remember, we were never separate at all.
The Sculptures
Sirena and the Whale | Whale Song
In the dawn of creation, Sirena meets the Whale, vast, steady, and new. Their meeting is quiet recognition. Together they discover that depth is not darkness but devotion, the courage to descend and know oneself whole. The Whale steadies the rhythm of her breath, she teaches him to listen beneath silence. In their communion, the first depth is born, the knowing that all growth begins in stillness.
Sirena and the Ray | Dance of the Ray
At full light, Sirena meets the Ray, moving like gentle geometry, precise, fluid, and clear. The Ray teaches movement with intention, tracing patterns of reciprocity and joy. Their dance becomes a living map of discipline and grace, a reminder that strength can be tender and precision can be luminous. In their orbit, light finds purpose.
Sirena and the Wave | The Return
At dusk, Sirena stands at the edge of all she has learned. The Wave rises, not her creation, but her reflection. Through it, she understands surrender, not of power, but of separation. Together they rise and fall as one rhythm remembering itself. Here, Sirena becomes tide, eternal, returning, alive.
About Olivia Dunkley
Olivia Dunkley (b. 6 August 1998, Johannesburg) is a Cape Town-based visual artist specialising in sculpture. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Fine Art from the Michaelis School of Fine Art at the University of Cape Town.
Her practice bridges digital and traditional sculptural techniques, with a particular focus on digital sculpting, 3D printing and conventional processes. Dunkley creates visually compelling works that explore the intersection of form, concept and material, bringing contemporary technology into dialogue with timeless questions of nature, mythology and human connection.
Opening Reception
The public is warmly invited to attend the opening evening:
Thursday, 19 February 2026
19:00
Art@Africa Gallery
Clock Tower Centre, Silo District, V&A Waterfront, Cape Town
Exhibition Details
Title: The Ocean Between Us Is One
Exhibition Dates: 19 February to 20 March 2026
Venue: Art@Africa Gallery, Clock Tower Centre, Silo District, V&A Waterfront, Cape Town
RSVP/Enquiries: sirena@artatafrica.art