to hold what fades

The cherry blossom falls gracefully after its brief, stunning bloom. It drifts down to the ground, its beauty short-lived. Yet the fleeting nature of its existence is what makes it so beautiful. If the blossom were to last forever, it would lose its poignant charm.

It is this moment, suspended between blossoming and fading, that I have sought to capture in this body of work. Each figure is presented as a seed emerging from darkness, or new growth reaching towards the light, like a flower unfurling toward the sun. I am interested in the fleeting nature of youth, its vulnerability and fragility, and how this mirrors the rhythms of the natural world, where all things move in cycles of ebb, flow, transformation, and constant evolution.

Throughout the series, fabric has been used both as a visual element and as a conceptual thread. I am drawn to cloth for its enduring connection to the body and how it acts as the body’s second skin. It swaddles us at birth, covers us in sleep, and shrouds us in death. It exists as a constant yet ever-changing addition to the human body.

I am interested in the inherent femininity of fabric, how it is shaped through stitching, weaving, and knitting, historically by women's hands in domestic spaces. My labour-intensive process mirrors these traditions: layering textures, folds, and patterns with care and patience. There is a symmetry between pigment and fibre, between the slow unfolding of cloth and the slow unfolding of time.

This body of work marks a shift in my practice, expanding beyond the figure to include still life and landscape to explore femininity, transience, and the fragility of the natural world. In these works, figures give way to vessels, each holding the fleeting life of a flower or leaf. The well-known silhouette of Kunanyi is presented as a looming feminine presence, overshadowing the growth of a range of native and introduced species. Nature’s cycles, the unfurling of blossoms, and the falling of autumn leaves serve as subjects and metaphors throughout the work.

The use of colour is equally central to the series. Each hue is drawn from the natural world—the auburn and reds of autumn leaves, the lilacs and whites of spring blossoms. I’m endlessly fascinated by the interplay between colours; I see it like the arrangement of notes in music, with each hue interacting and harmonizing to create emotional resonance.

In creating this body of work, I employed a blend of materials and techniques, including the traditional use of pigments, glazes, and gilding, interwoven with contemporary practices from street art and graffiti. Inspired by various sources, ranging from Nordic pop music to classical masterpieces, the work intertwines ancient techniques with modern sensibilities, evoking themes of transformation, fragility, and renewal.
This show invites the viewer into a quiet space of reflection, where beauty is fleeting, memory is layered, and time moves in endless cycles of light and shadow.