“Where light meets air” is how I experience the subtle expressions of paper.
Paper embodies the contrasting qualities of lightness and rigidity, fragility, and durability, expressing the ephemeral through the tangible. These coexisting opposites greatly influence my expression.
I try to give physical form to a moment that I have glimpsed or experienced. Inspiration is drawn from the life around me and my hands seek to interpret them in white paper, where the simplicity of the material mixes with the complexity of the idea.
At some point aviation history and an eye for detail merged in me and I began transforming the static airplane replica into a historical narrative. I’m fascinated by the stories of those who designed them, built them, flew them and fought in them.
I have a special admiration for the RAF and for British engineering and I pursue a whole range of engineering-art and aircraft-stories to understand my fascination better.
And why airplanes? Because wings are wonderful designs, because gravity-defying lumps of metal in the sky are fascinating, because that’s where danger and excitement go hand in hand, and because to fly, as written by John Gillespie Magee Jr. in his poem High Flight, is to escape the “surly bonds of earth”, and taste freedom.
This talk will run for approximately 1 hour, followed by a book signing. Suhail will then be in the gallery to chat to people about the exhibition.
