Playing Cards (Black Joker), 1990

Renowned for his unique, large-scale still life paintings, Donald Sultan is an artist whose works are filled with rich colour, iconography and comprised of unorthodox materials. His trademark technique foregoes the traditional use of canvas and instead employs masonite as a basis on which he layers 12-inch vinyl floor tiles, subsequently cut to create geometric and organic forms; the negative spaces of the piece are first filled with materials such as tar, latex or plaster, then later with a layer of paint – resulting works such as Air Strike April 22 1987 have a distinctly textured finish. Asides from his painting, Sultan has found success as a printmaker and sculptor – his Rain Pots series is among his most celebrated work and features several multi-ton, lead pots situated across various outdoor sites and used as a vessel to collect rain water; the piece captures the simplicity and fragility of our natural surroundings. (Artist website)