Jai Chuhan’s Small Paintings exhibition at Qrystal Partners invited viewers into a series of intimate scenes that are hard to step away from on account of their mystery, ambiguity and yet overwhelming sense of familiarity.
Chuhan beautifully navigates the complexities of the human body, taking the reclining nude from the canon of art history as a template to negotiate the inner workings of the body, using thick, vibrant oil paints as though sculpting upon the canvas. She depicts people in room-like spaces, contrasting the organic curves of the body with geometric lines and shapes. The figures are captured in moments of tenderness or introspection, and also of uncertainty or unease. At times, we feel unsure whether the figure wishes to escape the scene or is simply reaching towards a window or to draw the curtain... where the room is both home and unhome. The presentation of the back view of the figure creates a sense of voyeurism, with the viewer breaching a private space.
Chuhan’s paintings convey emotions embedded in her process, where ideas evolve subliminally into unexpected configurations, expressing personal experiences and what she regards as ‘transcultural hybridities’ in her aesthetic lineage.
Hannah Marsh, Assistant Curator, Tate, extract from The World of Art is My Home in Jai Chuhan: Small Paintings monograph published by Hurtwood accompanying Small Paintings solo exhibition, Qrystal Partners, London 2023.
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Jai describes her painting practice as one that is prompted by questions about how to create a visual equivalence of her feelings. There is a melancholic and instinctive spirit that beckons in each of her canvases, encapsulating how the painter becomes the painting with mind and body. The physicality of the paintings reveals a special sense of sentimentality, especially as one realises how long these works have been in the care of the artist. The emotion embedded in Jai’s works becomes palpable through the bumpy textures and the scent of the thick application of oil paint. Each layer, encompassing both heavy and light mark-making, creates a rhythm and a cadence that points to an insistence on life and all its awkwardness, pain and beauty.
It is through painting that Jai asserts that she will leave her mark on this Earth. While her studio and painting practice is a refuge, she is motivated by the external world. She continually works to give those that want to look an opportunity to gain a glimpse of the personal and fragile states of life that make her think. Jai recognises the importance of human interactions with her art. She perseveres to ensure that these small moments do not go unnoticed. She paints with a profound humility that is structured by an admirable amount of rigour and commitment.
Jai’s perspective refuses bravado and probes at empathy, or lack thereof. Making a proposal for how paint and colour can be employed to access notions of intimacy and to feel connected with art.
Donald Ryan, the exhibition curator, extract from the Foreword in Jai Chuhan: Small Paintings monograph published by Hurtwood accompanying Small Paintings solo exhibition, Qrystal Partners, London 2023.
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