Rawquility

The space between rawness and calmness (tranquility)

Two opposite forces in union.

London July 2019

©KAT

You’d been my coach. And a close friend. So in that brief moment you knew where to hit. Not physically of course. Emotionally. A direct punch. Breached. Broken. Violated. I was hit by a tsunami of raw emotion. Years of adverse experiences compounded and relived during that one brief phone call.

A couple of weeks later I was in London at Slade School of Fine Art. Every morning I quietened myself in the park, watching squirrels play in the trees, drinking my coffee before making my way to the studios. Unsure of what I would encounter, I would enter the studios feeling content. Happy. Relaxed in the knowledge I would leave at the end of the day feeling richer. I found equanimity in ‘my world’ of light airy spaces, canvas, paint and discoveries waiting to be noticed.

This painting evolved slowly with deliberation. Painted using only my hands while curled up on top of the canvas in an almost foetal like position. My body overwrought by the abrupt release of years of anguish, sorrow and grief. In deep physical pain. Devastated, yet I felt tranquil. Soothed by the gentle motion of caressing paint into canvas.