RUUSH features Solomon Kammer and her fervent protest on bodily autonomy

8 Nov 2022

The Adelaide-based painter Solomon Kammer reached a significant milestone in their artistic career, presenting their first international solo exhibition Give it up. Kammer’s works ceaselessly transcend their captivating and arresting strokes with introspection into the physical body, advocating for neurodiversity and all forms of disability that translate onto their canvases into a visual language.

Jasmine Pirovic from RUUSH writes, “Whether that’s sharing their experience of being diagnosed with ADHD, relaying the ways in which the medical system has failed them or by bringing to light how both disabled and queer people must constantly fight for agency over their own bodies. What links each of Kammer’s works is their desire to challenge society’s view that certain bodies are ‘more sacred, valuable and worthy of protection than others’.”

Solomon comments, “I will make work that is peaceful and banal when the world allows all people to live peacefully… until then, I’ll be protesting in my own sort of way.”

Solomon Kammer (b. 1991, Australia) is an Adelaide-based artist who works predominantly in painting. Kammer draws on her own experiences of chronic illness, medical science and gender biases to expose the prejudices, challenges and abuses faced by many women today. While Kammer’s work is intensely personal, it also speaks to broader experiences of emotional and bodily mistreatment. The bold and confronting compositions Kammer creates speak to underrepresented communities: people living with disability, illness and trauma.

Kammer is a self-taught artist, with no formal training, tertiary education or mentorship. Kammer has been a finalist for numerous awards including: the Shirley Hannan National Portrait Award, Kennedy Art Prize and Wyndham Art Prize, and has won the People’s Choice category in multiple prizes. In 2017, Kammer won the Myself Prize for her self-portraits. Kammer was also a semi-finalist in the prestigious Doug Moran National Portrait Award.

Image: Installation view of Solomon Kammer, Give it up, 2022, Yavuz Gallery, Singapore.