The return — Affordable Art Fair UK

Everything has its season. Our lives do too.

My life here in UK has been its own season and an adventure I could not have fully imagined when I first arrived. There have been new beginnings, uncertainty, growing pains and many things I have had to learn along the way.

Now, this feels like another season: a season of returning.

I have not exhibited at an art fair for a while.

There are many reasons for this, but the simple truth is that life has taken me somewhere else. Almost eight years ago, I had my first exhibition in Hong Kong. Now I am living in a new country, trying to build a life as a full-time artist, with very little connection or network around me.

In many ways, I have had to begin again.

That has involved a lot of training for my body, mind and soul. It has not always been comfortable, and I am still learning how to meet the challenges in front of me. But alongside all of that, there is also a deep joy in being able to pursue my passion, to follow my curiosity and to keep discovering what happens when I put ink onto paper. “The Light We Hold” is a new series of ink works that I will be exhibiting at the Affordable Art Fair Battersea from 14–18 October, at booth C3, represented by Galerie Hellikait.

This series began with a simple idea: light doesn’t just illuminate; it is carried. What shines on one person doesn’t stay there. It passes on and reaches those around us. Collectively, we are all shining in our own way like the stars in the sky, the sun and the moon. These four pieces each hold a small point of light within the dark.

This piece is called Held in Orbit.

Nothing stays close to a star by accident. A body in orbit is held there by gravity, caught in a pull it doesn’t resist, be it the way we stay near the people whose light we are drawn to, without ever quite explaining why. Such a warm reminder that stillness is in the air and we should all live the present, and do not dwell in the past or burdened by the uncertain future. “We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”

Oscar Wilde, Lady Windermere’s Fan

Night Crossing. Even on the darkest crossing, there's a point of light steering the way through. Not enough to banish the dark entirely, just enough to keep walking toward it, even the light seems far and tiny, the stars are guiding us along, because the darker the sky, the brighter the stars and the moon.

Two Moons. Some skies hold more than one source of light. Two moons, two glows, neither dimming the other, light doesn't run out when it's shared; it just multiplies. New horizon is seen, new landscape is discovered, new perspective is found.

The Nebula. A reflection nebula makes no light of its own, it glows only because nearby stars never stop glittering, and it catches what they give off. Even after a star is gone, its light still travels. The people we've loved and lost work the same way; what they gave us keeps shining, carried in us long after.

“I am a part of all that I have met.”

Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Ulysses

Whatever season you find yourself in, I hope there is always a light in the sky, and somewhere in your heart, that helps guide you. I hope my art can meet you there, offer you a moment of connection, and perhaps give you a little more light to carry.

If you are in London between 14 and 18 October, I would be very happy to see you at booth C3.

With love | Michell