I always cry on airplanes. At least ever since I moved to Switzerland in 2022.

Moving across the world is not an easy feat for anyone. I myself saw it as a personal challenge. A form of Lego project for a life that I would like to build in this new place. It had hardly been linear. Emotions that ebb and flow, language skills that fluctuate over the years, vague feelings of guilt and loneliness, followed by the excitement of newness. Yet the trajectory remains upwards, until one day you finally realise, this is truly where your life is.

Claustrophobic implosion represents the year I spent wandering and creating out of a lonely shoebox apartment on Hohlstrasse. It was the very first year that I lived on my own after moving from one flatshare to another. It was also the first time in many years that I decided to get back into painting. It is a celebration of freedom out of constraints and artistry out of scarcity. In retrospect.

Acrylic on canvas
80 x 80 cm