Rajan Masters: Urban Landscapes
“It’s all about looking at how to capture the times we live in through urban landscapes. It captures the overlooked scenes in order to communicate an untold story. Big cities will allow us to focus on vastly-sized buildings, but the hidden parts show how the majority of people live day to day.”
“Growing up I always felt like an underdog. Seeing my mother work 2 jobs while studying and raising a family, alongside financial stress leading to my father’s increased alcohol addiction and abusive tendencies, to me and my sister getting picked on for having unfashionable clothes, lead me to believe money could solve all of our problems. I always wanted to be an artist but I felt that wouldn’t help me or my family, so I kept it close as long as I could but focused more on a career in finance and dabbled in a few other things for extra pocket money. When my mother was diagnosed with cancer this drive for money and “success” became stronger. I knew she wanted to see me do well. I thought I was the coolest kid in school playing football in Ralph Lauren shoes. I was getting all the grades my mum wanted, I didn’t really care for it much, just wanted to see her happy.”
“On the day of my first GCSE exam my mother sadly passed away, which turned me into a boy wishing I had a few thousand, to having a lump sum of life insurance money I couldn’t even fathom and some good grades I never cared for. I realised my family had more money than we’ve ever had, I was the best student I’ve ever been, but my dad was a heavier alcoholic, my sister still didn’t feel valuable or beautiful and an 18 year old me with more money than I needed still felt like that underdog. Despite the tragedy I ended up doing well enough to go to Brunel University and study accounting as I felt I owed it to my mother and the people around me. I received an invitation to an interview for a “sandwich course” work placement offering triple what I earned at the time working part time in retail. I didn’t even go to the interview. I realised money isn’t what’s valuable. All the money my mother left isn’t the valuable thing she gave us. It was the impact she had on our lives, the love and dedication she showed. I realised for me to take this job would be selfish. I would offer nothing to the world aside from a minuscule increase in GDP and employment rate.”
“At that moment I decided I don’t want to work hard to be rich, I want to work hard to make sure I can impact lives, give people something that makes them feel they’re valuable, even if they have no money, looks, or whatever they feel they’re deprived of. I want them to know that they are thing of value and beauty; not some material object or a standard of beauty they’re taught to value, even if one has accumulated these things. I want them to see beauty is everywhere. I want them to see the details of the painting and come in really close squinting their eyes and know I heavily invested time for them to see a better piece. I want them to know I live a compromised lifestyle to poor all the money I possibly can into making pieces of better quality just for them.”
“As a young painter I work from my bedroom, which is really just a studio with a little bed in it. I do this to save on the costs that accumulate when renting a separate studio, in order to invest in better materials. I usually work from photographs taken from moments of real life. In the case of the urban landscape collection, I carefully choose a few images I photographed myself and photoshop the image in order to enhance its aesthetic appeal. Once I am happy with the outcome I proceed to paint the image using oil paints on high quality paper. Implementing a photorealistic style and careful attention to detail helps me capture the feeling of being present in that moment and making time stand still in a life where we live so rapidly. Matisse’s famous quote of art being “something like a good armchair which provides relaxation” comes to mind. Finally to finish the artwork I had them professionally framed. I usually work this way for most paintings, but sometimes source images form the internet or other publications, and also work with linens and other materials.”
“For the most part I don’t even care about selling my pieces just yet. I just want them to be seen by the people who may need to see them. I truly made this collection for the underdogs, not to say it’s exclusive to them, but I definitely want people who feel how I felt a few years ago to know that I care for them. I want the boy or girl who goes home to a broken family, wearing their older cousins hand-me-downs to know they’re valuable and their surroundings are filled with pockets of beauty. Though I may not be able physically reach out and say this to them, I hope these pieces can connect with them, take them away form their troubles and be absorbed in this little painting for a few minutes, to then snap out of it and realise the bliss they found in viewing the piece looks a lot like home. Maybe they could feel their surroundings aren’t as bad as they once thought they were, but a place filled with beauty.”
