Sacha Jafri, the London based painter, is now considered one of the world’s leading young artists. His paintings investigate the human being, and the intrinsic relationships with surrounding environments. Quintessentially Art had the opportunity to meet with him, and discuss what makes him paint, his interests,
and his upcoming series ‘Universe of the Child’.
You’re known for your visually strong paintings. Why painting of all mediums?
Painting is what really inspires me. It is the most tangible of expressions for me in that I am very much a painter of the 70s or a purist painter. The thing now is that there is a lot of concentration on the finished product; my work is very much not about that. It’s sort of the antithesis of that, it’s about creation of the product and the best thing I can do is paint.
What do you mean by the theme of magic and a style of magical realism and how do you use these themes in your work?
It’s not really a theme of magic, it’s making your world, your reality that you know and recognise and awakening something that was maybe sleeping. It’s a bit like an electric shock to the senses. Magical realism is about the viewer being able to dip in and become part of it but it’s not material enough to one you know, you become part of that and you start competing the narrative.
What are the main themes that you have painted so far?
All of my paintings are about human beings, how we fit into our natural surroundings, how we relate to each other and to our surroundings both natural and man-made; how we converse with each other. Within that, there are different narratives told, within that there are different paths of subconscious. Some of it is very deep; its more about a journey or an investigation into the subconscious which becomes more about the dream world and some of it is more lucid and more about the world and what is around us when we are awake. It’s all about people, all about narratives and all about relationships.
You are now working on a series called ‘Universe of the Child’ – What is that about?
It started in Darfur. I realised that I didn’t want to paint about the darkness of humanity but about the strength of humanity, in what is amazing and inspiring. I found the only way to get to the truth in these countries, to get something different, poignant, and to find the truth, would be to work with children. They have a purity and they have a truth that is quite amazing. The idea is that it would be the essence of the country through the eyes, heart, mind, soul of a child you would find the essence of the country. It’s quite a big journey which is exciting.
To find out more about Sacha Jafri and his upcoming exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery, contact Diana.Graham@QuintessentiallyArt.com.
