SELECTED WORKS

Kulbir

Grief, quiet sacrifice and the privilege of ageing.

Year

2024

Medium

Watercolour on watercolour paper

Dimensions

23.4 × 16.5 inches (A2)

Style

Surreal Impressionism

Artist note

Kulbir was created in the wake of grief. A life taken too soon. This surreal impressionist painting honours a life shaped by quiet sacrifice: a woman who gave endlessly to others, asking little in return. At its centre lies a closed-eyed figure, her face etched with the privilege of ageing. From her crown, an owl unfolds, intricate and expansive, with violet eyes that gaze outward. It sees you.

A witness and a guide, it symbolises spiritual wisdom — the kind that emerges only through stillness and inner reckoning. The black background absorbs light and colour, reflecting detachment, death, and the echoing void that grief leaves behind. Painted in freehand, with intuitive watercolour strokes, the work became a space to feel rather than escape.

It asks not only what it means to die, but what it means to truly live. This is not a portrait of a person, but of a question: when asked what makes you happy, do you have an answer?