I felt grateful and honoured to be part of the LSFMD Doctoral Symposium Trajectories 2024 at the University of West London, where I showcased my work titled Thames.

I used seven Giclee prints on Hahnemuhle PhotoRag paper and three 2.4m long banners on Sumi-E Japanese calligraphy paper. I chose this type of paper for the banners to explore the idea of flow, flux, and impermanence. The Sumi-E paper is highly absorbent, affecting the colour blending and sharpness as the inkjet pigment-based ink gets absorbed into the non-coated paper, creating a ghostly and steaming effect. It was hard to find the right settings on the printer to keep a good balance of colours and tones, so I had to run many test prints, changing different settings and experimenting with colour profiles. Even though I used a paper heat press to straighten the paper as it curled while rolled, the next day, the curls came back, and I had just to embrace them and accept them as part of the installation.

As part of the Symposium, I also had to present my work and research around the exhibition, followed by 30 minutes of questions, which I found very challenging as I struggle with social anxiety, but it went well, and i received very positive feedback from colleagues participants