In May 2024, I made the sketch on the left, inspired by a painting by Friedensreich Hundertwasser. I tried to visualize the leaves and trunks of the coconut trees, taking inspiration from the photo on the right.
I then made a watercolor, doing everything possible to forget my attachment to reality. I added the face of a “Boza” (Bolom Zafer) in the tree as Hundertwasser adds faces in some of his paintings.
Back in Mauritius, I made a small acrylic painting on canvas, but I am not at all convinced of the result. I think I need to do one last test in a larger size to check if this direction suits me and to what extent I could adapt it in my future paintings. As I wrote on my phone, one of my biggest challenges is to intentionally distance myself from reality and “fade out logic in my paintings.” »
I finally decided to make a new large painting this time. The progression of the table above – (1 to 5) shows some steps I took to arrive at the final painting on the left. I really liked giving faces to the trees, because it gives them a special presence. I believe that if trees had faces, men would have thought twice before cutting them down. Creating this painting was a very instructive exercise for me. I painted complex backgrounds before overpainting them with new graphics. The hardest part for me was taking a step back from realism and trying to let my emotions guide me.
The Zafer style is evolving and that’s what makes me happy. I believe this style will take several directions before stabilising, but these are just guesses. After all, I’m just the performer.
