Looking Beyond the Surface
What lies beneath the surface of what we present to the world? Recorded in her Toronto studio, artist Russna Kaur joins host Deep Kailey to explore how internal mental chatter manifests on the canvas and how creative practice mirrors life’s unanswerable complexities. Drawing from her background as a biology major, Russna shares how studying anatomical structures under a microscope transformed her understanding of inner workings versus external facades—a perspective sharpened after surviving a life-altering car crash that compelled her to dive completely into painting.
The conversation reflects on how we are born as blank canvases, continually adding unnecessary layers throughout life only to one day realise we must return back to that black canvas. Together, they discuss abstraction as a radical tool to slow down in an instant-gratification society, confronting the discomfort it can provoke, and how achieving true simplicity—whether in a masterwork or a stilled mind—is the highest form of discipline.
Russna Kaur is a Toronto-based visual artist known for her vibrant, large-scale modular paintings that challenge traditional boundaries of surface and space. Her dynamic practice investigates the complex interplay between chaos, order, memory, and the multifaceted layers of human experience.
Her incredible first limited-edition artist book, 'Looking Closely: Painting, Process & Abstraction' , is out soon, register interest here: https://elaiabooks.fil...
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