URBAN LAPSES

The paintings in this show are the result of two years of work reflecting on the silent monologue of the person with his or her urban surroundings. The condition of Diaspora I experience as someone leaving in between cultures has played an important role in the creation of these pictorial texts.

To lapse into a particular state is to go into a quiet or less active state. To lapse into a quiet state of mind has been a constant quest for the oriental philosophies such as Buddhism and Yoga. However, anyone of us experiences this rare state of self once in a while. It is what we commonly call ‘lapse into a daydream’, a moment of suspension from the struggles of life, a moment of contemplation.

The characters in my recent paintings are caught in this inner moments of quiet and balance. The urban landscape of London, where they inhabit, appears as an interiorised metaphysic land, more like scenery in an opera. The animals present in many paintings recall gothic symbols of the human condition.

The unlike narrative is in the eyes of the beholder.