2024 Finalists

In the theme of liminality, the concept of time plays a crucial role. For me, the grey hour represents the transitional moment between day and night, between light and darkness. It is a time when boundaries blur, when familiar shapes dissolve into twilight. This hour creates a unique atmosphere, evoking the essence of liminality – a fleeting moment when familiar structures and limits fade away. During this time, the world appears uncertain, imbued with a sense of tension and anticipation as we stand on the threshold between past and future, between the known and the unknown. This idea was on my mind while painting my latest piece. In it, I explore the intersection of liminal space and time, using the simplest of subjects – the floor in the hallway of my studio. At the heart of the composition is a long shadow, cast by me, as one would see when the sun is nearly set. I sought to juxtapose the incongruous: on one side, the shadow, characteristic of the evening in an open space, and on the other, a completely enclosed room. This creates an unusual, almost surreal, combination. A key aspect of this work is capturing the atmosphere of the time of day through lighting, form, and color. I use a warm palette and soft shapes to evoke this mood. The tiles are painted in an irregular fashion to maintain the distinct character of the depicted space. The grey hour serves as a metaphor for liminal space, where we feel poised at the threshold between worlds, standing on the edge of two states of being. This moment between light and darkness, day and night, mirrors our internal journey as we move from one stage of life to another, from one state of consciousness to the next. Twilight, therefore, symbolizes not just the physical transition of time but also a metaphysical shift within, offering a key to understanding liminal spaces and their profound impact on our perception of reality.

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