The process

Studio Practice

My studio practice is an experiment of myself, my materials, and the painting. I work across drawing, stencil, glue, fabric, paper print, acrylic, oil, pastel, and colour to explore human emotion, behaviour, culture, relationships, and the contradictions of everyday life.

Fabric is at the heart of my creative process. I collect discarded fabrics, carefully dry-clean them, and prepare them for reuse. I make it a practice to heat-press the fabrics with a pressing iron before incorporating them into my paintings. This process gives the material a renewed presence while preserving its patterns, textures, and cultural character. To me, fabric is more than a material; it is a symbol of culture, origin, memory, identity, and mood.

My figures exist between realism and abstraction. Bold black outlines, fragmented and cubic forms, circles, patterns, and strong colour relationships have become recurring elements in my visual language. I use the human figure, face, symbolic motifs, humour, and illusion to create images that can be visually engaging while carrying deeper emotional and social meanings.

I often work with my paintings laid on the floor. This allows me to walk around the canvas, see more of the composition, approach it from different directions, and become physically immersed in the work—especially when gluing fabric. The process is instinctive and physical.

Although I may begin with an idea of the colours, fabrics, figures, or composition I want, I rarely know exactly where the painting will end. Each layer becomes a response to the one before it. I make a mark; the painting responds; I listen and respond again. I believe the strongest work comes from listening carefully to what a painting has to say rather than forcing it to become what I initially imagined.

My artistic influences include Yusuf Grillo, Pablo Picasso, and Yayoi Kusama, whose approaches to colour, form, fragmentation, pattern, and repetition have contributed to my visual development. Beyond these influences, inspiration comes from everyday life—history, culture, government, human behaviour, love, humour, conflict, and the many contradictions of society.

Ultimately, I want my work to be an invitation. I want viewers to enter the painting, discover something unexpected, and perhaps recognise a part of themselves within it. Whether it evokes reflection, remembrance, laughter, discomfort, or joy, I hope each work creates a moment of connection.

For me, painting is a journey of listening, transforming, and seeing the world differently.