The beauty of imperfection

I recently moved to the Maldives and I'm based in the heart of Malé, the capital. When people hear the word ‘Maldives’ they immediately think of the clear blue ocean and white sandy beaches! Although I have experienced that side of the Maldives, I am also experiencing a very different side of it.

Malé is very small and there is a main road called Majeedhee Magu that runs right across the island. I walk down a portion of it everyday and I can’t help but notice all the inspiring textures and colours along the way. Most people in Malé live in their ancestral homes and a lot of the buildings have been there for centuries. Each house has a name and a story behind it and they are all painted and decorated differently, yet there is something that ties them all together. I feel that there is so much beauty and depth in things that are not perfect and it seems as though the Maldivian residents down this particular road feel the same way – especially about the exterior of their homes.

Chipped paint and wood rot doesn’t seem to bother them in the least. As a result, most walls have layers and layers of peeled off paint that has created amazing colour combinations and textures through the years. To me they look like abstract paintings by famous artists! 

The salty air probably doesn’t help much with maintaining buildings. Most of the doorways and windows are warped and falling apart yet they have been preserved and held together in such interesting ways! The doors and windows also have layers of wood and paint and there is something so unique and beautiful about them! It’s almost like each layer tells a different story of a different time.

Even simple elements like bricks along the sidewalk or even the pipes that run along the sides of the buildings look like little pieces of modern art. As an artist, colour and texture is very important to me and these are definitely some samples that are going in to my scrap book for future reference! These sightings may not be the typical things that people come to the Maldives to see but these buildings act as a sort of a time capsule, transporting people back in time in an instant. They are also examples of the fact that things don’t always have to be perfect to be beautiful or inspiring. Sometimes imperfection can be even more intriguing and beautiful! 

 

I was so inspired by these colours and textures that I put together a collection of art based on what I saw. Layers of old paint, rust, moss and wood rot with pops of bright coloured elements. My collection of butterflies is symbolic of beauty that can be found in imperfection.