Cara Nahaul
Canopy and Medicinal Flora, 2020
Paint, vinyl, and framed charcoal drawings
Custom House Ward, Newham Hospital
Cara Nahaul’s work explores landscape as a means to reflect upon personal histories, memory and identity. For her first public art commission, the artist created an immersive wall painting entitled Canopy, which seeks to transport those passing through here to a tropical landscape. Vibrant organic shapes and plant forms evoke distant destinations, inviting viewers to envision their own voyages and travel narratives. The series of charcoal drawings which accompany the wall painting are based on the artist’s visits to her parents’ home countries of Malaysia and Mauritius.
Inspired by an interest in colour and botanical forms, Nahaul also created a series of window vinyl, within the ward, entitled Medicinal Flora. Featuring plants known for their medicinal properties including argan, echinacea and ginger, the work encourages viewers to look up, and out of the windows to create a sense of healing, restoration and recovery.
About the artist
Cara Nahaul lives and works in London. She received a BA from Goldsmiths University, London and an MFA from Parsons, The New School for Design, New York. Her solo exhibitions include ‘The Impossible Garden’, Taymour Grahne Projects, London, 2020 and Trade Gallery, Nottingham, 2018. She has been selected for the John Moores Painting Prize twice and the inaugural Jerwood Painting Fellowship.
