The Secret Soul

She explains that what has always motivated her is “the deepest existential question that every human asks at some stage in their life, ‘Who am I?’ My art is that discovery process.” As this inner process of discovery developed, she says, so did her art. The inspiration for the latest exhibition came from a breathwork workshop she had attended.

“Holotropic breathing [a rapid breathing technique to attain other states of consciousness, eds.] brings up a lot of things, and during this I had a glimpse of my soul. So I wanted to express the sense of it in these works.”

Hufreesh does not pre-plan her paintings. “I feel this is something that is created through me, I’m just the instrument, because if I was to work with a mental concept, I think it would turn out to be very banal, without depth. That’s why when I start work I try to keep myself out of it as much as I can. The more I can do that, to allow the pure inspiration to go through me, the more the artwork gets better.”

It also leads to her embracing new materials and techniques. The new exhibition includes two multimedia pieces featuring tree bark (“Seeing the destruction of trees recently really pained me a lot, and I wanted to express that these trees are alive, they have a soul.”) and a central installation, ‘Inner reflections’, involving suspended mirrors which constantly turn to reflect other facets of the room. “I’m now moving away from static artworks, I want them to be more interactive.”

One piece in the exhibition is an exploration not so much of her as of another’s inner being. ‘Bindu’, with its colourful concentric circles and golden centre, is Hufreeshs’ representation of an Aurovilian who recently passed away. “I felt very close to Bindu and experienced so much grief at her passing that I thought I would try to create something that represents her.”

This is something she does with others, too. “I’ve learned a lot about healing energies over the years and I wanted to combine this with my art. So when people talk to me about their dreams and aspirations and are open to the process, I tap into their energy field, and ask for a painting to come through me which is a representation of their inner self. I love doing this because each human being is so different that I find that in the process different styles and techniques emerge to capture their inner being.”

It is why it is impossible to label her: each exhibition seems like a new form of artistic and personal exploration. “Most artists get labelled by their style and I don’t want that, I have fought against that my entire life. I don’t want to stick to a certain style because we have so much within us, so many different aspects that seek expression.”

We look forward to seeing where her inner explorations take her next.