Uman is not a fan of traveling. “I’m more of a fan of the destination. If I could just be beamed somewhere, I would be so happy,” the artist said, smiling behind sunglasses on a cloudy afternoon in London.
Migration and movement have played a major role in her life, and within her work. Born in Somalia in 1980, Uman and her family left their home there when she was nine years-old as a result of the Somali Civil War, later relocating to Denmark when she was 13, according to CNN.
In the 2000s, she moved to New York City, where she would sell her artwork on the streets in and around Union Square.
Since 2010, she’s been based upstate, away from the hustle and chaos. “I felt like the city was not very conducive to my creativity,” she told CNN in an interview. It’s her studio — “my fortress,” as she calls it —she feels most at home, happiest and freest.
This sense of freedom is conveyed in Uman’s latest work, currently on display at Hauser & Wirth London. Titled “Darling sweetie, sweetie darling,” the new exhibition is a kaleidoscopic world of color, drawing in influences across cultures, space and time.
Seven large-scale paintings adorn the walls of the gallery’s white cube layout, all exuberant explosions of color, calling back to Uman’s childhood.
“I grew up in a very condensed place. Most of my memories are of Kenya and (there), everything was just sensory. And I think that’s part of what comes out in my work,” said Uman, whose first solo exhibition opened in 2015 in New York.
Though distinct, the works are connected in various ways. Motifs recur, such layered geometric shapes, or the circular spirals reminiscent of the Arabic calligraphy Uman studied as a child. The paintings share a similar deep blue color palette, punctuated by jewel-toned accents. For Uman, these hues represent the expansive skies of her home and studio.
She emphasizes her approach to painting is guided solely by her intuition and instinct, and is a constant process of reapplying, reassessing and being guided by her mood on any given day.
“I never, ever plan it. I can only say it’s just a feeling, an emotional reaction, to my environment, reactions to my dreams and how I see the world, she said.
