These exuberant, seemingly freestyle markings recall Arabic calligraphy, which Uman studied as a child; the resulting marks coalesce into Uman’s own highly distinctive language of symbols. Uman cites Louise Bourgeois as inspiration for the use of spirals in this selection of new paintings, such as ‘Untitled’ (2023) where floating circles in spiral formation contain smaller paintings within them, resulting in paintings that are bustling with worlds.

In this exhibition, Uman privileges saturated colors, combining bright jewel tones longside darker hues in surprising ways. The artist’s process begins with the repeated layering of colors using acrylic paint, followed by an application of oil stick or oil paint via minimal but resolute gestures using a brush or her own hands. Applying thin, decisive layers of color with purpose, this approach heightens the materiality of Uman’s works and reinforces her minimalist approach.