Creating a major body of works
Creating a large body of work that invites the viewer into a deep insight whilst remaining strong and cohesive has been quite a meditative process, hence my ‘silence’ during the past year.
As I am growing older, I find myself constantly writing down phrases, memories, and traditions; in the hope that I won’t forget them as a natural consequence of my aging process.
I have used these writings as a starting point for this exhibition.
The concept behind the definition of the word ‘Palimpsest’ has been applied to the way in which words, paint, and collaged materials were used in the preparation of these works.
The written words that collect an encyclopedia of personal memories have been scrapped, wiped out, deleted, and rewritten, in every painting, allowing for a reconstruction of layer over layer. The final text appears blurred, simile to how some memories do and its examination in the presence of organic and strong marks resulted in intriguing paintings.
For years, I have distanced myself from my own migration process, as a mechanism of self-preservation. Working through this exhibition not just helped me reconnect with my past but also served as a channel for acceptance and content.
‘Palimpsest’ represents the process of self-reinvention that I have been subject to through the years as an immigrant, professionally and personally.
Palimpsest: A document, a script, a parchment, a scroll.
A "palimpsest" is a manuscript page, whether from a scroll or a book, that has had its text scraped or washed off to be used again as another document. During the 6th century when parchment was not readily available, a page was often reused by scrapping off the previous writing. With the passing of time, traces of the earlier writing would show through, and scholars were able to decipher earlier texts. Today, in colloquial language, the term is frequently used in architecture and archaeology to denote an object made or worked upon for one purpose and later reused for another. In forensic science, the term refers to the reconstruction of events, and in nature, the landscape remodels and reshapes based on its previous forms.
