<p>Currently on view at Carré d’Art in Nîmes, <em>Unstuck</em> combines traditional and contemporary motifs</p>

As told to Louise Darblay

Rosalind Nashashibi on the painting she began at the start of the Ukrainian War

<p>‘I started this painting on the day that Russia invaded Ukraine, something we were supposed to know was going to happen but that I still didn’t believe would. It felt like the return of some version of death – sovereign states at war with each other. I usually start with a motif and here I began by painting the skull at the back, and the bee that’s sucking the life out of a black flower – or maybe it’s the flower taking the life out of the bee. Then it became this outdoors scene, with the table and the plate, which referred to late-19<sup>th</sup>- early-20<sup>th</sup>-century painting, with the capturing of the light that could evoke Impressionist and Postimpressionist still lifes and garden scenes.</p>

<p>‘I spent a long time working on this painting, and I was getting quite frustrated with it after a while. There was still some sense of freshness to the background, but I felt that it got quite worked, so I decided I wanted to do some gesture on the top that was quite fast – and that’s where the swans came in. The motif is based on a little 1980s crystal swan ornament with interlocking necks that I found in a charity shop, something very kitsch but quite tender as well, and that in a way should have upended the whole composition, but for me it really made the painting come into its own. </p>

<p>‘I called it <em>Unstuck</em> because it reminded me of making a collage, when you move the pieces around on top of the paper and they suddenly lock into place, in an unexpected way. I’m interested in things that walk a border between what’s acceptable and what’s not, and that element of transgression – to use the ornament and try to propose it as a serious motif. So, it’s not about kitsch in itself, but rather about trying to create something authentic, via a route that tricks me as a painter around my own version of meaning and authenticity.&nbsp;</p>

<p>‘The swans recurred in many paintings in that series and after a while they became like a stamp, or a monogram, which is why I titled the shows&nbsp;“Monogram”. The monogram is about expressing something in a very reduced way, the interlocking of letters or a symbol, that has a much bigger power than it should have – that idea of a sign that represents an entire system is something that interests me. What exactly is the difference between a sign and an image, and where can I play on that order?</p>

<p>‘To me painting is about distilling the motifs or hooks that come out of me, which is also similar to the way I make films, although the tools and processes are very different. I’m always following a hunch which might come out as a motif or a compositional element or might come out as a character in a film, and then it’s about giving myself permission to pursue it and trusting the process. So it’s quite an intuitive process in that it’s not about a tangible thing yet – it’s about a lack of a thing in a way. It’s just me trying to take that apart and understand what interests me, through the making of films and paintings. But with painting you get to work in such a direct and immediate way, I find that kind of magical.’</p>

<p>Rosalind Nashashibi is represented by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/gallery/2055/Grimm">Grimm</a> (Amsterdam, London, New York).</p><p>‘Monogram’<br />Carré d’Art, Musée d’art contemporain<br />Nîmes<br />Until March 26, 2023</p><p></p><p>Louise Darblay is a writer, editor, and translator based in London.</p><p>Published on February 14, 2023.</p>

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Currently on view at Carré d’Art in Nîmes, Unstuck combines traditional and contemporary motifs

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