Welcome to Studio Liguria

We moved! Not to a different address, but to a different continent. For the last three months, I have been living and painting out of my new studio space in the countryside of Liguria.

Going deep into the landscapes has always been essential to my painting practice. Over the last five years in Florida, I have learnt to absorb my surroundings by trying to see the unnoticed, by paying attention to the intricate details of a landscape, as opposed to it as a whole.

Our move to the Ligurian Hill Country naturally opened a portal into a new landscape. Morning porch views of the Mediterranean sea and evening hikes into the woods of the Ligurian hills provided a plethora of exercises in seeing, hearing, and feeling - the movement of the grass fields, the gentle breeze from the sea, the quiet swooshing of the trees, ominous blues of the thunder breaking skies, the omnipresent chirping of cicadas, the sound of silence as the nights fall, to name a few. As I took my walks in nature, I thought about creating work not merely as an outsider observing the landscape, but rather being a part of it - being landscape myself.

How do I paint myself as landscape?

To answer the question, I began aligning myself with the philosophy that connects me with nature in a way where every element holds significance and each detail contributes to a harmonious whole. I have come to discover Kanso.

Kanso (simplicity) is one of the seven principles of the zen philosophy alongside wabi-sabi (the beauty in imperfection), fukinsei (asymmetry), koko (austerity), shizen (naturalness), yugen (subtle grace), datsuzoku (freedom), and seijaku (tranquility) - all of the attributes, I have realized, I would like to translate onto the canvas.

As I leaned more into this philosophy, I learned that in the world of design and practical life, Kanso is often translated as stripping away the unnecessary and superfluous in favor of modesty and simplicity. Precisely what we aspired to when we decided to pick up our ten year olds and move to the Ligurian countryside.

To embrace this philosophy and to apply it to my painting practice meant I needed to connect with its principles by identifying the essentials and removing the unnecessary which resonated with my personal aesthetics.

Thus, at the dawn of summer 2025, I began my studio work by drawing movement and color I observed on my nature walks. These small works on paper became a bridge into the next phase of my process - painting on a substrate which is brand new to me  - jute.

My intention to create sustainable art was set while still in studio Florida where I began incorporating natural pigments alongside typically used synthetic paints. Once settled in my new studio space in Italy, I came across and learned about the ongoing cotton crisis and the impact cotton cultivation has on the environment. These learnings led me to look into more eco-friendly natural fibers such as jute and linen.

Over these summer months, I dove deep into learning and experimenting first with jute.

While jute and cotton are both biodegradable, jute typically has lower water imprints than conventional cotton due to faster growing crop. It is also highly durable, ages well, and often referred to as Golden Fiber due to its color and affordability.

Having said that, unlike cotton with its smooth feel and fine look (hence the preferred choice for many painters including myself), jute has a rather rustic look to it. Turning it into a visually appealing fine art surface presented me with a new creative challenge.

I'm delighted to present my first eight paintings on jute created in Studio Liguria over these summer months. They embody the essence of my current painting practice - quiet simplicity and sustainability.

View STUDIO LIGURIA portfolio