My work evokes sensations of exotic escapism, commenting on our inherent compulsion to bring nature indoors whilst exploring perceptions of identity and rootedness within a given landscape.

Taking inspiration from the intricate patterns found within Eden Hall, the natural landscape of Singapore and the wilds of my imagination, my work reflects on how we inhabit space through visual identity. I am interested in the imprecision of memory and the process by which imagination can intrude on physical space, influencing how people establish a connection to it.

Deconstructing memories and direct experience into simple forms, my works sit between experience, memory and imagination, and considers the limits of representation in relation to the wholeness of experience. I explore the fragility of vision and ideas of remixing reality, looking at the relationship between individual and collective familial memory – in this series my own enacted identity within Eden Hall, a home originally built for my ancestor.

I also consider the impact, on my sense of identity, of the movement of both my maternal and paternal family across countries and cultures over past centuries. My paternal family has Jewish Baghdadi roots, and were originally settled between Calcutta (India) and Singapore, with my Grandfather Leonard Manasseh OBE RA being born in Eden Hall in 1916. My work is saturated with influences from my grandfather’s paintings, especially his love of colour and flora. Having family all around the world shifts one’s concept of home, indeed spaces are often re-negotiated, shaping our memories and identity in the landscape.

The power of our imagination, in relation to collective memory is that it allows us to see things from more than one perspective. We can use it to assign values to a place, and imagine what it could be like, what it was like, and what it is like now. Therefore every new experience can be thought of as a partial reflection of something we already know to be true, constantly questioning a person’s relationship to the temporal space. By taking over the intimate spaces within Eden Hall through painted interventions, I am forging a sense of belonging to a home I have only heard stories about.