Donovan Julius works in acrylics, creating portraits that cut through easy narratives about identity and belonging. His use of bold color and unexpected flesh tones doesn’t just catch the eye—it questions who gets to be seen, and how. Rooted in Khoi heritage and his experience in Xairu (paradise), Julius’s practice moves between intimate studio portraiture and commanding public murals, each exploring the lived reality of the Khoisan people: their resilience, their struggles, their claim to space and story. His work is a conversation—with ancestry, with community, with anyone willing to meet his subjects’ gaze.