Based in the dynamic district of Liverpool Street, London, Spitalfields Market is an accessible hub of artistry, street food and fashion: it is the perfect place for one of its regular, successful vendors, Sufian, who captivatingly paints magical miniatures of everyday English life. You may spy an inky blue butterfly, Big Ben splattered in gold paint or a series of full-figured nudes who are proudly sprouting gossamer wings. “I love being outside,” the fine yet playful artist shared with us: “hiking, people-watching and exploring my surroundings are some of my favourite activities to do.” Sufian works minimally using a technique called ‘line and wash’ which means drawing images in pen and then adding watercolour, in this instance, so that clarity through vivid colour of the subject speaks for itself.
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However, there is also an interestingly profound dimension that is seemingly expressed through the painter’s fantastical touch whether it be a vibrant splash of rogue pigment, exaggerated angles or his ethereal fairy-like figures: “this is not necessarily a departure from reality,” Sufian explained. “I always paint what I observe and am drawn to – I may experiment with my approach such as using metallic watercolours on black paper or on Musou black paint which makes a piece appear more abstract or combine elements of nature such as the wings of an insect with life drawing, but I think my passion lies very much in what is directly in front of me.” What Sufian does then is very sentimentally embrace reality. Indeed, it seems the latent sense of creative grace emerges more from his formulation of style which is informed by personal ties to historical rural influence: that of the South-Asian Moghul Empire. Sufian grew up in Wales but spent a significant amount of his childhood in Pakistan “admiring the architecture, people and objects. I was painting from a young age and would explore culture and the world visually – we would travel a lot in trains visiting cousins in different cities, so I drew a lot of trains, for example." I have also always admired the grandeur of the buildings and the stories behind them.” Similarly to the artist’s gentle signature pieces, traditional royal paintings in 16th-century South Asia were tiny bright works, completed incredibly delicately with even the use of “a single hair as a paint brush” at times. Sufian’s representative watercolours blend contemporary sightings and rich cultural heritage to celebrate the fluid fusion of current identity: “the medium of watercolour is inherently spontaneous, lending to that quality in the world: the paint will travel into different dips and valleys of the paper – that’s quite exciting and fun, and so I always come back to that medium.”
Sufian began running his stall at Spitalfields Market following his experience during lockdown, adapting his professional trajectory to suit the times: “I had been furloughed and my love of painting really exploded then. I found myself filling my home with more paintings than it could hold, and it felt that it was the right time to start sending off my work.” Before the liberating move to predominantly painting as a career, Sufian was an interior photographer who spent much of his time capturing still spaces inside: “one path definitely made me happier!” In terms of artistic inspiration, the painter states “intimate association with the subject is key – I need to have closeness to the content. A lot of the time I will paint friends and lovers, and even my pet Pepper – my black cat is recurring in my work and popular with marketgoers. The process of painting is already very hands-on and immersive.” Truly, there is a lot of emotional drama inherent in individual attachment where an almost literary theme is another aspect of Sufian’s work. A painting of a moody whale which evolves into a mythical kraken by the next piece springs to mind: the frames for these seem as if actual portholes where the artist is very careful in his selection of what goes around his work too. “I find the right frames for pieces everywhere and anywhere – sometimes repurposing old broken mirror frames.”
The “often baroque-inspired’ complementary borders are harmoniously matched to the paintings to enhance the casual narrative splendour. Finally, Sufian’s natural passion for painting beautifully illustrates that the formula for succeeding in business is what is fundamental to experiencing life: the imitable joy of human connection where this alchemy makes us feel alive. “If you are a painter who wishes to sell work often,” the artist concluded here, “your pieces must immediately resonate with the observer and bring them happiness – if pieces are too abstract or elusive, it is harder to reach a wider audience. I feel that the joy I paint in ordinary life really touches people and authentically brings them in.”
I: @SufianAhmed
