Shakun J

An intuitively creative contemporary artist, Shakun’s resourceful ‘think outside the box’ attitude has left a mark on all of her work.  She enjoys using elements of textural contrast in her mixed media paintings; the rough and the smooth; the soft and the hard; the light and the dark; each element enhancing the presence of the other. Born and raised in the cosmopolitan city of Bombay, India, Shakun has been drawing and painting since early childhood. Widely travelled, she graduated with a BA Honours degree in Economics and Education and has studied dressmaking, photography, and interior design. She designs jewellery, furniture and interiors. Visiting museums and galleries around the world is a constant source of inspiration for her. She has spent some of the most exciting and creative years of her life in the production side of show business, designing costumes, sets and props for stage, television and film in the glamour world of Bollywood in India. She credits her teachers Martin Guderna and the late artist Margaretha Bootsma at the Emily Carr Institute for Art & Design in Vancouver for inspiring her to break free from traditional oil painting methods and embark on a journey of discovery and learning working in acrylics and mixed media; an extraordinary journey that has helped Shakun find her own distinct voice, signature style and vocabulary of innovative experimental painting techniques inspired by the lyrical and immersive use of line and the sublime evocations of color and composition exemplified by Mark Rothko, Mondrian, Gerhard Richter, Barnet Newman and others.