Thirza Schaap
ARTIST
Thirza Schaap (b. 1971) is a Dutch artist working between Amsterdam and Cape Town.
Thirza’s multidisciplinary practice spans sculpture, photography, and painting, often exploring the relationship between beauty, perception, and environmental awareness.
She is widely recognised for her Plastic Ocean project, in which she collects discarded plastic waste and transforms it into sculptural compositions that are then photographed. These works raise awareness of pollution while simultaneously questioning the aesthetic value of everyday materials.
More recently, her practice has shifted towards painting, where she explores botanical forms through a contemporary and imaginative lens. Using a limited colour palette, she creates fluid compositions that blur the boundary between flora and the human body, often suggesting hidden figures or movement within the work.
Her work plays with perception, inviting viewers to question what they see and how they interpret it. Through subtle ambiguity and visual tension, Schaap creates works that are both visually engaging and conceptually layered.
