About NIMA

What is it that determines who I am, who we are? Is it our name? Our appearance? Our personality? In reality, I am fine with people knowing my real name or what I look like, but when can they truly say they know me? In the end, we are all somewhat anonymous. There are always some parts that we never reveal to anyone except ourselves. I often say that I have adopted a form of hybrid anonymity. Or am I just embracing it, since it is already an intrinsic characteristic of human nature?

Most people know nothing about me or my life, and yet they know a part of me through my paintings and my thoughts. After all, my art is the expression of my being, of who I am, of a part of myself. Is there a purer way to truly get to know a person?

When I speak of “a part of myself,” I am referring to a recurring theme in my writings: human identity, the question “Who am I?”, and the tendency to limit our identity to one or two definitions, or rather, to a single definition for each category, never allowing for more. In doing so, we end up restricting ourselves by imposing artificial limits.

I believe this is one of the reasons behind our constant frustration and dissatisfaction. If our minds, and we ourselves, are a perfect chaos composed of many seemingly contradictory elements that should not be able to coexist, yet somehow do, then isn’t forcing ourselves to fit into a single category or definition a way of going against our very nature as human beings?

With the section “Write About It,” I would like to demonstrate exactly this. I do not want to force myself into categories or confine myself within predefined boundaries. I want to share my reflections and thoughts, not to provide answers, but rather to ask the right questions, encouraging readers to reflect and seek their own answers.

This purpose is shared by my paintings. For each artwork, you will find a questionnaire to complete. The questionnaire serves an additional purpose: to promote a deeper connection between the viewer and the painting. It is true, and inevitable, that we associate an artist with their creations. However, I also believe that art should be useful. It should make people feel, question, and reflect.

With that in mind, is there a better way to encourage reflection than by creating a strong connection between the viewer and the artwork? By pushing, and almost forcing, the viewer to decide what that painting means specifically to them, the artwork becomes a personal experience rather than a passive observation.

I believe that a painting is truly complete only when meaning is given to it. That meaning can be different for each of us. This is why every viewer, by assigning their own interpretation, ultimately completes the painting.

So, to the question, “Who is NIMA?”, my answer is:

“NIMA is every single one of us.”