Wafa Love is a London-based artist establishing her footing between the art and music spaces. Her paintings are always a pleasant surprise, an assortment of abstract shapes and peeping eyes amongst a lively combination of colour. A body of work she describes as organised chaos. Practising for just under a decade and with recent exhibitions under her belt, Wafa is getting into her stride in this pursuit.
Originally a clubber in her homeland Tunisia, music is a big influence in her work, with nods to nightlife in some of the artwork’s titles: ‘The Belters’ and ‘Dance It Away’. After all, dance music is all about self-expression, from the DJs weaving their music collection to the dancers on the receiving end. This passion for music is also channeled with a Loose FM residency as Q-Love, showcasing her assorted taste in genres including world music and jazz.
You came to London intending to be a DJ and while you immerse yourself in the club scene here, you end up as a painter first and foremost. How did that happen?
It happened on the 20th of December 2013, at my friend's after party in Camden. I saw my best friend Antonia Beard painting a piece in her room, I asked if I can give it a go, so she handed me a canvas with some paint. I began to paint intuitively and painted for hours. It turned out as an abstract piece with warm colours, reminiscent of a sunset. It was also my birthday so the moment felt like a kind of rebirth. It was such a trippy experience!
.JPG)
Dance music clearly informs your work with many of your pieces named after it. You also painted a mural for Hackney Wick venue Boat Live that opened last year. Can you speak about this link and how this culture inspires you in the studio?
I went to a night out at the boat for the first time and that’s where I met Antonio the owner. After sharing some life stories he asked if I would like to create some artwork for the venue and I agreed. Since my artistic journey was born in the music scene, I felt like contributing and giving something back to the community. Music impacts our mood, lifts us up and touches our hearts. Emerging myself into the underground music scene has only helped my practice. Often, all the emotions felt after a good rave session are channelled into my paintings.
There’s a consistent and distinctive style running through your artworks, how did that develop?
For the first few years, I was making abstract work, focusing on colour, form and texture, but then I got too comfortable with it. That’s when I realised something needed to change. I started including creatures, the idea manifested itself when I drew a series of creatures on paper and was inspired to incorporate that style into my paintings. The first few tries didn’t make any sense, it was a mess! It was very difficult painting them with the brush, but I kept insisting until they began looking good to me and made sense in my head. New doors opened and more fun started happening in the practice.
The characters you add to your pieces are the finishing touch, are their personalities a reflection of your mood when creating?
I think I found my signature. I see a lot of myself in those creatures, in some ways they mirror life events or experiences. Sometimes I think my characters are the party people themselves, I can never grasp the full interpretation. Everything I do is very intuitive. It’s all drawn from my subconscious, and sometimes from imaginative scenarios made up during the painting process. However, colours are crucial too, they are the foundation of the artwork.
You’re also a radio resident for Loose where you share your enviable collection of music from all over the world. How did you start your journey as a selector?
I started a collection of world music in 2017. Until then, I was fully emerged in the electronic music scene and have been since I moved to London. So much so that I hardly had space to explore other sounds. However when I went to Ronnie Scott’s, a jazz club in Soho for the first time, it was a game changer. I felt this energy, like everything was new again, going back to where it all started. It became my new school and inspired me to dig deep into different styles of music, which lead to the collection I have now. I’m so grateful for that experience.
What is the meaning behind the name Q-Love for this outlet of yours?
Q-Love was born during the pandemic, so originally I was Quarantine Love. Over the period of isolation, I recorded my first vinyl mix and uploaded it to Soundcloud, which became my platform for expression. Once lockdown lifted I was in an Uber with my record bag, on my way to play at a friend's house party. The driver asked my DJ name and thought Quarantine Love was too long, so he suggested I change it to Q-Love. I agreed and it’s been Q-Love ever since… haha.
Your third exhibition just finished in London, where you introduced sculpture too. What are you up to next?
More painting, learning and evolving, I want to expand my practice and consciousness. The mini clay sculptures happened very spontaneously. However, I enjoyed the process so much that I want to explore this medium further and see what the outcome is. I’m excited!
Collectively we’ve just come out of a challenging time with the global pandemic. What have been your biggest challenges and how you have navigated those?
The most challenging thing for me in the pandemic was the loss of freedom. However, I still had the power to convert that loss into something positive. I dedicated all the time I suddenly had in abundance to creating art and researching music. This led to some amazing things, from the creation of Q-Love, to my first gig at Childhood festival in Tunisia and my first solo exhibition with Hoxton Gallery in May 2021.
The most challenging thing I’ve done was move to London alone, from Tunisia in 2008. I wanted a better life, to live the way I wanted. I was a beautician back then, however I ditched it all for my passion - it was so liberating. I took a lot of risks. I now say I’m a slave to my art. It feels good and I wouldn’t change a thing about it.
Follow Wafa Love:
Follow Emma:
