AMRIT SINGH SANDHU – CLAYTON: I PREFER LIVING IN COLOUR

Cam.contemporarie is presenting their inaugural exhibition in London at The Art Office with Amrit Singh Sandhu-Clayton’s solo exhibition work. Amrit Singh Sandhu-Clayton: ‘I prefer living in colour.’ 10 July – 7 August 2025. She is known to be influenced by David Hockney’s energetic and dynamic colour combinations.

Amrit Singh Sandhu Clayton’s practice merges the worlds of painting and fashion/modelling, working predominantly with oil and water based pigments, found textiles and embroidery. Born in 1997 and raised in Punjab, she obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts at Pratt Institute, New York in 2020, and is currently living and working in London. Trained as an oil painter, her work embarks on a metamorphic journey through which the shaping of new forms and visual meanings simulates her own personal adapting to changing environments.

SEATED WOMAN 1

All of these images like the work above are taken from archival family photos that were originally in black and white. The artist has reimagined her family photos in colour and thereby creates a contemporary story from them.

GATHERING

The Gathering is a family photo of the matriarchs in her family. The woman in yellow is Amrit’s grandmother. The rest of the people are her grandmother’s sisters and the other strong women in her family. The original photo would have been taken in a living room. Each rectangle was created separately then pieced together with the others to create a whole. It wasn’t important for her to have all of the rectangles lined up correctly.

GATHERING THREE

These pieces are on yellow turmeric back pieces. They are inspired by Italian Frescos. This work stood out towards me because of the emotionless expressions on the two women’s faces. As a viewer I would interpret their facial expressions as seeming calm. What also stood out towards me was the colour variety of the women’s clothing. Their punjabi clothing is very different from what women wear wearing in the UK. The work’s dark yellow background sets the scene of Punjab. Similar to how the sun brightly lights up the environment in India. Therefore, this created a strong sense of legacy in my mind because of how her family still continues to live in Punjab today within this bright environment.