ATIKA ART SPACE: June

Interview & photos by Veronika

We are excited to announce our second residency for ATIKA Art Space - a place in our store where we highlight some of our favourite local artists we are proud to present to you. Today, we’ve installed our newest resident’s pieces, from the incredible Renoshni Nazareth.

Renoshni Nazareth is a South Asian, London-based oil painter and animator who explores the themes of diasporic memory, cultural identity, and intersectionality. Her works have been featured in The Arrival Gallery (2025), The Indra Gallery (2026), and the Royal Greenwich Museum (2026).

I: What’s your current work about?

My current work is about translating lived experience and conversations onto something tangible, using memory as a subverted muse. I explore themes of diasporic memory, identity and intersectionality, and the complex relationship that each can have on the present. A lot of my recent works are inspired by what I read, for instance, linguistics, politics, historical fiction.

I: What feelings do you aim to evoke in viewers?

I hope my paintings evoke many feelings, corresponding to each individual viewer as they bring their own lived experiences upon observation. Reflection, conflict, fury and a drive to action are a few that come to mind.

I: Is there a specific detail you hope viewers spend time with?

A little Easter-egg in many of my portraits is a representation of the Koh-i-Noor diamond. In Emergence, the muse’s tikka and the horse’s headpiece are adorned with it; whereas, it is the central stone in

The Intruder’s necklace.

Despite the Koh-i-Noor diamond originating from South Asia during the Middle Ages, it currently sits in the British Crown Jewels. By painting the Koh-i-Noor diamond in portraits of South Asian women, it serves a gentle nod to transparency surrounding colonial history and patriarchy.

I: What does your creative process look like?

A lot of my initial ideas spark from private and/or political conversations, and fragments of memory. An image strikes - if it truly resonates, I begin to find references: compositions, colour, texture, until the references aligns with the mental image or exceeds it. The painting process is immersive and fun. It includes music, podcasts, or sometimes just listening to the whines of my cat by my feet.

I: How do you decide when a piece is “finished”?

I decide when a painting is finished when I feel as if the message or story can be effectively deciphered or received, or even finished to a point where the viewer can add to this their experiences too. A lot of my paintings are ‘incomplete’; for instance, The Intruder is left in grisaille because the greyscale seemingly magnified the painting’s key themes further than ifI had glazed on top. Finished paintings come from gut, rather than a final stroke.

Make sure to drop by ATIKA London to see Renoshni’s art installation in-person. Her art is up until the end of June.