When Samuel Takembaiyee paints in his studio, he doesn’t use an easel. He sits on the floor, paint covering his hands, his clothes. It drips from a cloth nearby while he’s totally engrossed in the process of creation.
“I sit on the ground, I want to be so connected to the painting,” Takembaiyee said. “Once you are in the studio, you are immersed in what you are doing. You become childlike.”
The studio, however, isn’t where his creative process begins. It actually finds its start in the everyday nuances of Takembaiyee’s life—like going to the grocery store or mowing the lawn. In fact, he’s been asked why it takes him so long to finish his yard work.
“Yard work gives me a chance to meditate,” he explained. “I have my painting sitting there, and I’ll come up with an idea, and I’ll have to stop my yard work and paint.”
He works with several pieces at once, bouncing from one to the other. Though he works on more than one, they usually aren’t part of a series and they don’t have a unifying theme—each is unique.
“They are like children: Each have their own personality. Maybe the only connection they have is that they are created by one father,” Takembaiyee said.
When the inspiration hits, Takembaiyee goes with it. Choosing to work mostly in the abstract, he attempts to see beyond what’s apparent in the physical world. It’s a curiosity he’s had since childhood, part of which simply grew from questioning the world around him, nature, spirituality, and his culture.
“Coming from an African tradition, you see these rituals and you wonder, ‘What are these rituals?’” he said.
He explores the meaning of such rituals and symbols—especially in how they relate to the spirit—in his art. One of the most common symbols that shows up in his work is a circle, a shape that has spiritual significance for Takembaiyee. It’s also a tool he uses to prep for creation.
“I tame the canvas by painting a circle,” he explained. “Having a white canvas is as intimidating as anything, so to tame it, I draw a circle.”
Numbers are also a common concept in his work. Takembaiyee said numbers, to him, do more than denote a value to something—they have a higher spiritual value.
On the back of some of his paintings, Takembaiyee leaves notes about how he came to create that particular piece. It’s no secret, he said, and it doesn’t inhibit how the person viewing the piece interprets it.
“It’s a clue,” he said. “It’s like a key to a house. I give you a key to a house and allow you to walk in, and it’s up to you to explore.”
That’s part of the reason he enjoys working in abstract: It gives him a chance to explore as well. Takembaiyee said, as an artist, he must challenge convention to see what lies beyond. And what he finds there in the process is always unexpected.
“It’s a journey, in a sense,” he said. “You cannot predict how it will end.”
Arts Editor Shelly Cone sometimes writes in circles. Contact her at scone@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Aug 13-20, 2009.
