We have already introduced you to passionate ceramics artist Saya. On our Artists Open Houses discovery mission through the Seven Dials, we have also met this incredibly versatile artist.
Shyama Ruffell isn’t the only artist showcasing at 13 Addison Road in Hove, but it’s her work that has attracted our attention. When you look at the paintings and drawings put on display on two separate walls, you wouldn’t think they are made by the same artist.
Fine art paintings, drawings, collages and no less than four different styles, one involving lots of bright colors, the other one showing rather neutral pale colors. That is what characterizes Shyama’s work.
“I like to jump around and do different styles. I never leave a style alone but I always come back to it. Experimenting with all these different styles helps me keep fresh”, explains the artist.
The only thing all her works have in common is their general theme: plants, either tropical ones or plants that can be found in meadows. The fascination for this theme dates back to her childhood.
“My works are often based on a feeling from when I was a child. We lived in the countryside and I was able to just go into the nearest fields, lie down in the meadows and have the plants and insects all over my head, like in the land of the giants”, Shyama remembers.
The artist leads us to her studio, a little wooden hut at the back of the garden. Walking through the garden towards this peaceful workplace makes one understand why Shyama describes her work as “a journey through a forest or a meadow”.
With both her parents being artists, this creative environment she grew up in also influenced her. It was one special piece of art made by her mother that fascinated the seven-year-old Shyama.
“There is this tiny little painting of a butterfly made by my mother and I was really fascinated by it when I was a child. It is really small but it really captured me. And years later, I wanted to paint a butterfly and I remembered this painting. But I didn’t want to do it in the same way, so I decided to make it really really large”, she explains.
This is how Shyama came to the second big theme that characterizes her work: butterflies and bugs, assembled in colorful collages in vintage cutlery boxes. And a hundred percent vegan as they are made out of paper.
Shyama Ruffell will welcome you at venue 7 on the Seven Dials Trail. You can have a look at her artwork on Instagram (@shyamaruffell) or on her
You can also have a look at her artwork on Instagram (@shyamaruffell) or on her website.
The Artist Open Houses are on every Saturday and Sunday until May 29.
