BIO - Rupert Watkins

I was born on April 3rd, 1967, to a Barbadian mother and a Bahamian father from Stanyard Creek, Andros.

 

I was raised in the Bahamas, where I developed a natural interest in art, leading me to pursue it further. Art became my way of expressing myself after years of studying and practicing various spiritual paths, including Yoga, Transcendental Consciousness Initiation, Self-Initiation (such as The Golden Dawn, the Ausarian Religion of Egypt), and Yoruba. I have also been trained in Reiki, a Japanese art of healing through the human energy field. I am a self-taught artist with no formal training.

 

For me, art is a means of communicating with the higher self. I often ignore the initial visual idea of a painting, as it serves merely as a trigger. The non-visual, exhilarating, healing feeling is the true essence of the painting. I am as excited as the average observer to see the final outcome. The canvas represents the interplay of dimensional realities—the inter-dimensional and what we call reality. I enjoy sculpting on canvas by manipulating an acrylic mixed medium (archival acrylic, mixed paper, and toothpicks) to capture and express this energy.

 

When a painting emerges from deep within the inner self, it feels unhindered, as if you are somewhat unaware of your senses. As the painting unfolds, it's astonishing to see it become tangible. Once completed, I view it as though I’ve never seen it before, as naïve as any observer experiencing it for the first time.