Loss and grief have a way of pulling us into a time of reflection. Having lost so many loved ones over the past few years, I find myself questioning everything. Life doesn’t pause when another life is lost; so, I keep moving forward, immersing myself in creativity, even as these questions remain.
I’ve often shared my admiration for the Bauhaus movement. Though its principles emphasise geometric abstraction with minimal expression or emotion, I still find a powerful emotional response in works by artists like Albers and Kandinsky. Emotions, like time, are intangible, abstract nouns. We can’t touch them, just as we can no longer touch those we’ve lost, yet we feel them all the same.
This feeling inspired my latest personal piece, The Irrelevance of Time.
In a Bauhaus-inspired style, The Irrelevance of Time questions our conventional perception of time, represented by a clock with no hands which symbolises its insignificance in the grand scheme of things. At the heart of the piece is a vigilant eye, mirroring society’s fixation on the minutes, days, and years that tick by: the daily routines, the fear of aging, the dread of the inevitable end, as if time were something physical and within our control. Surrounding this eye are suspended shapes, each conveying a deeper truth:
- Triangles representing spirituality and harmony, remind us of the peace that lies beyond time’s confines.
- Circles evoking love, unity, and family, brings to mind the bonds that defy limitations, never-ending and perfect in their own right.
- Rectangles which offer a sense of strength and stability, ground us in the present moment.
The use of primary colours stand for purity and the foundation upon which we build our lives, while the ominous presence of black speaks to death, a reality we often fear but is no more or less powerful than the values we hold dear.
In this artwork, time fades into irrelevance. Relationships, spiritual connections, and the resilience of the human spirit are what truly matter. It’s all abstract.