Shadow Dancing from Ithaki to the Bahamas

I was delighted that my first experience of exhibiting at an art fair took place within the Caribbean, given my ancestral links to the region. Curated by Dep-ART consultancy, the paintings I chose to share at FUZE Art Fair were two of my “inklings” (more below), and a Shadow Dance triptych created on the Greek island of Ithaki.

Ithaki holds personal significance for me, as a place loved and visited many a time by my late mother. Together, the paintings were my offerings to the booth’s theme of “What the Ancestors Whispered”; portals to renewed sensations of belonging and sharing how I am exploring the concept of embodied ecology.

The triptych was created with juniper, pomegranate and olive trees on sacred sites across the island, including the site believed to be Odysseus’ Palace. They were a dance with sunlight, foliage, wind and cloud; with shadow shapes disappearing and reappearing, sharpening and softening. As I moved with ink and brush, the fleeting states filled the raw canvas stretched across the trees. I adore this practice; it is so deeply calming, grounding and entirely unpredictable.

This world is a treasure trove of intricate details, infinite layers, fleeting moments and shape-shiftings. So much of my practice is trying to find ways to highlight the riches that we are already a part of. My Shadow Dance series – ever growing – is my way of practicing attentiveness. The response to these works at FUZE was beautiful; I so enjoyed hearing all the diverse entities and emotions that visitors observed within the mark-making.

Alongside, I also exhibited Chrysalis Incubation and Storm of Flight, works in ink on Greencast recycled acrylic and meditations on the process of metamorphosis. These are a continuation of my exploring the material possibilities of inks and transparent surfaces, composing layers of substrates, textures and form.