Jahman Davine: Seen Unseen

View of Pine, Oil on Linen, 82 x 67cm, 2025

Seen Unseen

Jahman Davine

26 August - 6 September

Seen Unseen explores thresholds—between abstraction and figuration; the seen and the felt; the self and the world.

The paintings move between depictions of nature and geometric abstraction. What unites them is not a fixed language, but material, process, and intention.

Each work is made predominantly with natural earth pigments—clay, ochre, coal, and soil—most foraged and prepared by hand. These materials ground the paintings in the physical world. Nature, unlike man-made objects, exists without imposed meaning. Working with natural pigments allows me to step closer to this unfiltered quality of being, and I hope the work offers the same grounding to the viewer.

My recent travels to Thailand and India marked the beginning of this exhibition. When I was six years old, I spent a year and a half in these countries with my mother. Last year, I returned to many of the forests, mountains, rivers, ashrams, and temples I once lived in or visited, while also exploring new sacred places. Through studying Vedic and Tantric Yoga, as well as Thai and Tibetan Buddhism, I re-encountered a rich tapestry of ideas and practices—this time as an adult. From this grew a personal philosophy that values direct experience over dogma or metaphysical speculation. Both this philosophy, and the process of arriving at it, have been the driving forces behind Seen Unseen.

The paintings draw influence from diverse artists and traditions. Hindu and Tibetan Tantric arts inform the use of geometry and floral motifs, offering non-verbal entry points to transcendental experience. Monet and Turner inspire my focus on landscape, light, atmosphere, and the dissolving edge of form. Abstract Expressionists—Rothko, Frankenthaler, and de Kooning—shape the layered, intuitive process through which the works are built.

Ultimately, Seen Unseen is not about anything, but an invitation into a meditative mental space—where the self is allowed to rest, and one can simply be.