Somnia #12

Concept

The Thinking Behind The Creative Process:

I once witnessed a workshop conducted by members from the deaf community. Sharing nuances of how they communicate, a mentor crossed her arms, placed both hands gently on her chest, and took a deep, sincere bow. Only after several seconds did she slowly raise her body, and smile. It was their way of saying “I love you”.

Not a single word was spoken. The entire process was dead silent, but her smile and gesture was so warm and genuine, words would only tarnish the experience.

She beckoned us to do the same. The audience repeated the simple gesture, but everyone looked fidgety, seemingly concerned with whether they were doing it right. Were their arms crossed correctly? Should it be left-over-right or vice versa? Where exactly to place the hands? How low should they bow? In stark contrast to the warm gesture of our new friend, the audience’s reply felt cold, contrived, robotic.

If I were to illustrate an instructional sign-language book, I would draw proper hands, body and face, and I would draw technically accurate depictions of the gesture. But I have no interest to teach the audience on such technicalities, or how nice it looks. What truly moved me was the mentor’s sincerity and warmth. It is honest, emotional experiences like these that moved me to paint, for I find them beyond beautiful.

The mentor’s sincerity wasn’t a result of her gesture’s correctness, but came from within her, expressed through the way she moved. We would feel the warmth of her message even if she had a crooked smile, even if her actions were technically wrong. To express this warmth, it is necessary to consider the underlying forms of her gesture, and paint the rhythm of her body language. Any attempt to render detail should only be done just enough to make the message relatable, such that the viewer not only sees abstract shapes, but shapes that represent something they can recognise – a waist, a shoulder, a face. Overzealous rendering of such detail would kill the underlying emotion, like kissing a loved one with eyes opened.

Through painting, I explore ways to express mood and feeling with a minimalistic composition of basic tones, devoid almost entirely of colour and illustrative rendering. It was through this process that I found my voice.