Artist Nikhil Tricam uses his freedom of expression to filter out the noise and simply create. We caught up with the Durban-based artist to learn more
Tell Us About Your Transition From Architect to Fully Fledged Artist and Business Owner.
I felt as if I needed more outlets for creativity and my creative energy. Architecture is amazing, but it’s only one outlet and there are many constraints that confine it. Architecture is all the realities of the actual building – the admin, municipality and various other players that you have to navigate, making the creative process just a single part. When I moved into fine art, it was the complete opposite. You have full freedom over how you want to express your-self and what you’d like to say. This freedom became addictive to me, so I left the full-time practice I was at, in my position as senior design architect. I left the corporate world to pursuit art, which has given me the freedom to just exist on my own terms. I wouldn’t trade this for anything.
Where Do You Draw Your Inspiration From?
From my understanding, art comes from an awareness of our body and our being in relation to the natural environment, an attempt to show people that there is no separation between ourselves and what we call nature or the external natural environment. We are intrinsically linked and part of the same system, so we’ve created this model of civilisation with cities and so forth, but we divorce ourselves from the natural environment and see ourselves as separate; that directly affects how we treat the natural environment and how we exploit the resources around it. What my work tries to achieve is to evoke something deep within someone, like a visceral experience of oneness and sameness, so as much as it is directly influenced by natural forms and organic subject matter, at the same time it is about habitat and the personal relationship to our immediate, natural environment.
Are There Any Artists That You’d Love To Work With?
I enjoy working on my own because I’m a bit temperamental and go through bursts of expression and creativity. If I did have to choose someone, Karla Nixon (who is a very good friend of mine) would be a joy to create art with. Her work is so visceral and evocative, but at the same time considered and methodical.
Does Architecture Still Play A Role In Your Life?
The short answer to this – definitely. Architecture becomes an intrinsic way of seeing the world and never really leaves you. I am, however, still involved as a design consultant and work on conceptual design and detailed design, as well as interior design. I come in at the early stages of a project and get to work on all the parts I consider fun in architecture.
Anything We Can Look Forward To From You This Year?
I’m getting ready to create a new body of work that’s more consolidated and more refined as soon as I wrap up on my commission pieces. I will also be integrating my urban art into my paintings in a more seamless way, exploring portraiture. With this, there may be an element of political conversation, although,I always want my art to have an aesthetic beauty to the pieces.
Words by Yashna Balwanth
Photography: Courtesy Images
