Coffee painting for Project Coffee Art, London, 2013
Artist statement for this work
I have been painting with coffee for quite sometime. This purely organic medium is easily available all over the world and allows me to pursue my artistic activity anywhere and everywhere. A sheet of watercolour paper, some water and paintbrush is all that I need to create my artwork. I have worked with charcoal, watercolour and acrylic extensively but I must admit that I am getting increasingly addicted to this versatile and unique medium with its heavenly aroma and pigment that amazingly lends itself to create fascinating shades of brown and dramatic textures.
Why I chose this subject?
The movie Lincoln was fresh in my mind when I received the invitation from Project Coffee Art to participate in this art exhibition with a humanitarian objective. I began with a portrait of the Oscar winner, British born Daniel Day Lewis in the role of Abraham Lincoln and slowly got motivated to create something relevant to present day slavery. The outcome is this artwork “Can you hear the cry?”
This work was displayed at a pop-up exhibition at the Dray Walk Gallery,Old Truman Brewery, Brick Lane, London from 16th to 25th April 2013
The ultimate objective of this programme was to raise valuable funds for and awareness of Project Waterfall, which supports clean water and sanitation initiatives, this year in the Mbulu District in Tanzania, in partnership with WaterAid charity.