Him & Her Painting

I am a contemporary fine artist of Kenyan-Indian origin based in London working at Space Studios in Bow. My paintings explore the intangible in life and the fabric of the universe. I question the structures of experience and consciousness that the phenomenological philosopher Merlau-Ponty investigated in his theories of reciprocity. These find resonance with my practice. My process mimics the human development of memory, intuition, imagination and perception to explore these ideas. I start research to build memories from scientific, philosophical journals, also, stories of people’s relationships and emotional states of being. I follow this by sketching to get familiar with the subject matter. These are then discarded to allow improvisation and imagination to create the work The blank canvas starts with layers of paint that are then starched through with relevant marks that resonate with the subject matter being explored. I represent the 'immaterial' through mark making using various implements such as combs, twigs, silicone rubber tools besides the brush which references the Masai culture who live in close reciprocity with their surroundings. I experienced this whilst growing up in Kenya. Erasure and addition continue until the psychological relationship or condition being explored in the painting manifests itself through the relational sensations of colour and the physical qualities of an assortment of marks