Rooted

Rooted started with something quite simple: spending more time noticing nature.

While making this painting, I was thinking about trees — their strength, their texture and the way some seem to have been standing there for hundreds of years, quietly growing while everything around them changes. I also kept noticing how many trees I pass when travelling into London for work. Even in a busy city, they're everywhere if you take the time to look.

That feeling became part of the painting. The dark central form suggests a tree, but I like that it doesn't have to be only a tree. It can also suggest a figure, a landscape or simply something that feels familiar. For me, though, the idea of being rooted is the important part — being grounded by the people and relationships that give us strength, while still having room to grow.

I particularly love what happened to the surface as I worked on it. The crackled texture of the dark trunk began to resemble real bark, while the bright blue, orange, gold and copper around it brought movement and energy to the piece. The contrast between the heavy, grounded centre and the lively colours around it is what makes the painting work for me.

Rooted is an original one-of-a-kind work, painted by hand and built around the idea that sometimes the things that keep us grounded are also what allow us to reach further.

Dimensions: 91.4 × 61 × 5 cm
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Signed: By Hoza