b. 1987, United Kingdom
London based artist Cara Nahaul was born in the UK, 1987. Earning a BA from Goldsmiths University, London and an MFA from Parsons The New School for Design, New York. Her recent solo show was the inaugural exhibition at Taymour Grahne Projects (Holland Park), 2020. Featuring over 14 paintings and taking inspiration from her childhood visits to Malaysia and Mauritius. These works examined how interiors and landscapes can become sites to reflect upon memory, culture and identity. Nahaul’s vibrant paintings explore the character of tropical places, from quiet domestic interiors to idyllic public gardens. Paintings shift between the highly fictive and fantastically real, alluding to a personal and psychological undercurrent that quietly reverberates throughout. Nahaul invites viewers to imagine how they might mine, reconstruct and reflect upon their own personal histories. Nahaul completed her first public commission 'Canopy' in early 2021 for Vital Arts. The immersive installation was created at the newly-refurbished Custom House Ward at Newham Hospital, and consisted of two large wall paintings accompanied by a series of drawings. The installation aimed to transport visitors and patients from a clinical environment into a tropical landscape. A series of window vinyls inspired by botanical drawings of plants with medicinal properties were installed in the ward to create a space of healing and recovery. Nahaul has previously exhibited at Trade Park Gallery and Christine Park Gallery. Nahaul been selected for the John Moores prize twice, the inaugural Jerwood Painting Fellowship, nominated for the Contemporary British Painting Prize and completed a year-long studio residency at the Florence Trust.