How Hilma af Klint, Yayoi Kusama, and Barnett Newman Inspire My Art…

Art has always been more than what we see. For me, it is a conversation between experiences, people, places, and sound. Every poster I create begins with something lived — the hum of a city, the pulse of a bassline, the quiet presence of nature, or the rhythm of voices in a room. These fragments of life become colour, shape, and design.

Yet my creative journey does not exist in isolation. Like every artist, I stand in dialogue with those who came before me. Three visionaries in particular have shaped the way I see and create: Hilma af Klint, Yayoi Kusama, and Barnett Newman.

Hilma af Klint: Painting the Unseen

Long before abstraction became fashionable, Hilma af Klint painted what could not be directly observed: the spiritual, the emotional, the invisible structures that shape our lives. She treated art as a bridge — a way to translate energies and ideas into visual form.

Her courage to create work that was both visionary and misunderstood resonates with me deeply. When I layer colours, blend textures, and create posters that pulse with rhythm, I too am attempting to make the unseen visible. In music, a bassline is felt more than heard — it vibrates through the body. In my posters, colour is used the same way: to resonate beyond sight, to be felt.

Yayoi Kusama: Immersion Through Repetition

If Hilma af Klint teaches us about translating the unseen, Yayoi Kusama shows us the power of immersion. Her use of repetition, dots, and infinite fields of colour create entire worlds that pull us in.

I often think of my posters as portals — visual spaces that alter the atmosphere of a room. Kusama’s practice reminds me that art can transform not just a canvas, but the environment around it. A pattern, repeated and reimagined, becomes more than design; it becomes an experience. The same is true of music, where rhythm and repetition transport us. In my work, I aim for that same effect — a poster that feels alive, a visual rhythm that alters the way you inhabit a space.

Barnett Newman: The Power of Space and Presence

Barnett Newman believed that colour, stripped back to its essence, could become a vast emotional experience. His colour fields and zips were not about decoration but about presence — how a single block of colour could shift the way we stand, breathe, and feel within a space.

This philosophy speaks directly to my own practice. In music, silence can be as powerful as sound; in design, negative space can carry as much weight as colour. Newman’s ability to create intensity through simplicity reminds me that art does not need to be crowded to be complete. A single line, a single hue, can hold infinite meaning.

When I design posters, I think about that presence. How will this piece sit in a room? How will it alter the space around it? How will the colours resonate like notes in a chord, shaping the atmosphere of a home, a studio, or a gallery?

My Own Journey: Music, Colour, and the Middle East

My story began in the UK, where electronic music culture shaped my creative language. Europe refined it, Africa deepened it, and for over a decade, the Middle East has given me a canvas to evolve it. Each place has added its rhythm, its palette, its energy.

Living in Qatar for more than ten years has given me a profound appreciation for colour in daily life — the desert landscapes, the interplay of tradition and modernity, the vibrancy of communities. When I create, I draw not just from global influences but from these lived experiences that remind me art is both personal and universal.

Transforming Experiences Into Posters

So much of my work is about translating one sense into another:

Sound becomes colour.
Connection becomes shape.
Nature becomes texture.
Experience becomes design.

My posters are not decorations — they are stories, fragments of journeys, distilled into a single frame. They carry echoes of music, influences of artists like af Klint, Kusama, and Newman, and the traces of the people and places that continue to shape me.

“Spaces Deserve Style”

Ultimately, I create posters to be lived with. A wall should not be silent; it should reflect who you are and what inspires you. Like af Klint, Kusama, and Newman, I believe art should move beyond the surface. It should transform the way we feel, the way we connect, and the way we inhabit our spaces.

Because spaces deserve style.

From Sound to Colour: