Jade Obscura Painting

Paris born, Michel Saada started his artistic journey when “wanderlust and curiosity” brought him to his “Mount Athos” over 30 years ago: Secluded Laos, haven of peace and tranquility. A successful serial entrepreneur, it is art and creativity that ultimately define Mimi, as friends affectionately call him. Although he refutes the term, the Renaissance Man began his odyssey by transforming rustic coconut shells into ‘aboriginal style’ mosaics and shaping exquisite marquetry with inlaid egg shells and rice seeds. To his own admission, Mimi has been exposed to mainly contemporary influences; from Soulage’s ‘Black’ action painting to Pollack’s signature drippings and from Richter’s abstract works to Rothko’s expressionism. Still exploring the infinite creative ways with his own ‘working tools’, he fills the canvas in a novel way by crafting line, colour and pictorial space. Mimi is set to define his own style. Reminiscent of his backpacker days, Mimi still explores abstract painting and every white canvas is an adventure into unknown and mysterious worlds. Resisting the attempt to interpret his own paintings, he is mainly concerned with viewer’s experience and prefers provoking an active relationship between his work and the observer. He says that “the painting records my energies and state of mind of the moment” and as paradoxical as it may seem, he intuitively mixes spontaneity and contemplation as a critical element of his work. While his style can be characterized as a free process, there is however no lack of control over the material he employs. On the contrary, it is a progressively matured evolution towards a mastery of the medium. Poured, dripped, splashed, flicked, splattered, smeared, brushed, pressed….he applies no limitation to the techniques he explores rather than experiments with. Blots, stains and splashes of colour pigments only ‘appear’ to be scattered randomly, while in fact they are the consequence of a progressive maturation of his applied skills and craft. While one would call it methodic, he prefers stylistic evolution. Some of his layered brushstrokes appear to glow from inside yet others convey a three dimensional feel. Some are a carnival of colours, while others provoke fireworks of the senses. But even with all this seemingly random outbursts of creativity, all of his expressive work originates from within. He reveals his inner battles; turbulent and passionate.