ARTIST BIO

 

Chloe Shalini is an oil painter who draws upon her diverse heritage in all she creates. Her name represents both the European (Judeo-Christian) as well as Fiji-Indian (Hindu) aspects. It can be translated as 'Green Peace', which suits her general attitude very well. She lives and works in North London, UK and is 44 years old, born 1st November 1978. This birth date links her to the Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebrations of Mexico, another aspect of her heritage and a subject that has become increasingly central to her life and work over the years, particularly during the last three due to the passing of her husband due to covid and other health issues in early 2020.

 

Painting and writing have been a means of expressing and healing from experiences that went far beyond words since early childhood. She was only able to take art education to A-level, the UK college level that typically finishes around age 18. This is when she began working in oils. Due to a combination of job loss & poor health, including sepsis in 2010, she had a chance to develop her themes, some of which had roots in the teenage college years. Mental health journeying and spiritual growth led to the emergence of the current 'Becoming Your Self', 'Plant Medicine' and 'Awakening the Divine Feminine & Masculine’ god-goddess projects, amongst others.

 

Her initial exhibition was in 2005 at The Radlett Arts Centre, Hertfordshire, near London. From 2009 Chloe began pushing her introverted self into various exhibitions and group shows, all in London. The most recent was in 2018 with Parallax Art Fair, Kensington, London. Chloe has plans to get re-involved with exhibiting with Parallax in the near future.

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ARTIST STATEMENT

 

Through my painting and associated writing/poetry, I seek to support others in their healing and personal growth by promoting concepts such as love, hope, unity over separation, forgiveness, acceptance and awakening. My inner vision and hearing are key in my process. I use meditation, music, yoga and cacao to help centre myself and get into my 'flow'. My work starts with a concept, supportive message or extreme of emotion and find a pictorial language for this.

 

Much of the present work, such as the Divine Feminine & Masculine, is on canvas board, mostly small scale. I begin by roughly sketching out my designs on paper. The point is to represent our higher Humanity. With the 'Becoming' project I start by layering colour before sketching in the image. The grief and loss of recent times has rekindled this one as it deals with universal themes including inner conflict and learning to love ones's Self. 'Why is the Measure of Love, Loss?', a quote from author Jeanette Winterson, has become the title of my grief and sorrow project. The 'Plant Medicine' series, beginning with the 'Spirit of Cacao', is intended to promote love and respect for Nature as well as healing of mind-body-spirit.

 

I tend to choose colours by their resonance with the chakra system, for their healing potential. The current part of the god-goddess series, is based upon Ancient Egypt (Kemet). I choose a wide range of skin tones and facial features to represent these figures or archetypes, in part because I'm passionate about contributing to more positive representations of Africa in general. 2020 changed everything and it has been a monumental effort to get beyond barely existing; many people live in a state of despair and that is a large part of what motivates me to get on with creating.