My current body of work reflects the constant search for identity through a deconstructive creative process. As a self-taught painter, I draw many influences from my design background by creating illustrative digital collages as a base for my work. The act of taking apart images to develop a composition is an intuitive process where I create fictitious subjects, mostly of women. These fragmented subjects are an impression of our multi-dimensional selves that go beyond what is captured in a traditional portrait. The physical figures are also combined with colour, forms and texture that forces the viewer to continuously move through the painting. I aim to represent people not as static figures because in truth, we are comprised of complexities contributed by our background, experiences and even societal views.
After creating the digital sketches, I then translate the composition into acrylic paintings creating another layer of depth and humanistic approach to the piece. The stage of manual painting allows for me to start on the piece all over again as the different medium challenges me to view the work in another light. As I mix colours to get the right hue, match colours together and hear the scratching stroke of the brush on canvas, it feels like giving life the subject who was once just bits of images on a screen or paper. The process of digital to analog also speaks of the paradox not only within the elements of my work but also the contemporary ways art is produced and consumed today.