ABOUT ME

I was born in Mauritius on August 7, 1968. Very early on, my parents gave me a taste for Art. They were real triggers of passion. I am a self-taught painter and I learned painting by observing the work of my elders. In 1986 I took up oil painting and over time I became familiar with acrylic paint and watercolour, pastel, ink, charcoal and engraving on copper and zinc plates . I studied graphic art and this school helped me a lot with composition and later with the creation of the style that I called “Zafer”.

 

It was in 2003 that I started working on a very colourful style of painting, accompanied by geometric shapes. The use of graphics in the Zafer style stems in part from a simplification of the painter Vincent Van Gogh's touches. The spirals and circular shapes that we find in his painting “Starry Night” and the almost geometric shapes of the painting “Dandelion Meadow” caught my attention and I wondered what a painting would look like in which these touches of paint were simplified. This is how I started making paintings with circles, spirals, squares, triangles, lines and dotted lines. There is definitely also an influence from Australian First Nations paintings which I have always admired. The practice of the Zafer style is for me a never-ending adventure, because a style of painting is called upon to constantly evolve for the happiness of the one who creates and those who observe it.

 

I organised my first solo art exhibition in 1996 at the Max Boullé gallery in Rose-Hill, Mauritius. Encouraged by reviews, I offered solo art exhibitions to the Mauritian public in 1998, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2014 and 2022 where I organised an exhibition of Zafer paintings at the Caudan Arts Center.

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The Zafer style is both emotional and utopian. It invites viewers to experience a world that is idealised yet deeply felt. The emotional aspect of my work is conveyed through the vibrant palette and expressive forms, while the utopian quality reflects an ideal world, untouched by the harshness of reality. I ultimately seeks to transport the viewer to a harmonious and idyllic realm, where nature and geometry coexist in perfect balance.

 

I sincerely think that our world needs light and bright colours to combat the ambient darkness. There lies the essence of my art.