Tribute to Matisse 8

Henri Matisse is one of the artists who has greatly shaped and inspired my visual approach and artistic process. In 2015, I saw an exhibit of Matisse's work in New York, and this had a really profound influence on my mark making. I felt a connection to his shapes and collages, and to his process of how he worked with his assistants. I’ve since been evolving my approach to collage and fine tuning my shape language.

Through this series of collages, I celebrate his influence. I’m using my own color palette and birthing a new body of shapes which are based on the plant and flower collages I've done over the past few years. What I love about these collages is the opportunity to practice my intuition and remain playful with my composition.

Since 2015, my collage approach has been heavily influenced by the great Matisse, particularly his innovative process during the last decade of his life. Matisse's technique involved transforming simple paint and paper into a mesmerizing world of plants, animals, figures, and shapes, all through the use of scissors. To bring his visions to life, studio assistants painted sheets of paper with gouache, providing him with the raw materials for his artistic exploration.

Following Matisse's footsteps, I too employ a very similar process. I get help from my studio colleague to create my cutouts, I arrange them into compositions, and then I pin them down for the final gluing. The numerous pinholes left behind in the cut-outs tell the story of many repositionings, a testament to the meticulous process involved in creating these intricate collages. As I refine this technique, I feel grateful for the opportunity to carry forward this tradition, continuing to explore and innovate with my own shapes and aesthetic.