Kalila Hamilton-Bachiu: Architecture Portfolio

KALILA’S PORTFOLIO Imagination and I are locked in a dance.

Into a coherent whole.

Our steps are stippled points on a canvas

But to my surprise,

Imprinted in my mind.

I am always found breathless

I can always plan to direct our sweeping waltz,

From the results of our match.

But I am inevitably lost in the unpredictable

Our fragments slide into place like puzzle

Motions of my partner.

Pieces forming an alluring entity;

All I can do is attempt to gather our trails

Creating art.

A LOOK INTO THE SURREAL WILDERNESS OF THE NORTH Kalila Hamilton-Bachiu, A Look into the Surreal Wilderness of the North, Acrylic on Canvas, 2021, 18” x 24”

The purpose of this series was to highlight the underrated beauty of Northern Ontario.

The reference photos were taken near my childhood home, which is at the base of the La Cloche Mountains. This series is also a study in contrasts: the non-objective background and the detailed landscape, the underlying blues and oranges, and the geometric shapes and the soft organic swirls in the colour field are a few examples.

This series was influenced by three a r t i s t s f r o m t h r e e d i ff e r e n t a r t movements: Kandinsky (expressionism), who inspired the use of the lines and circles in the background; Helen Frankenthaler (abstract expressionism), who inspired the colour field in the sky; and Paul Cezanne (post impressionism), whose style I imitated in the landscape.

ON THE SHORES OF LAKE SUPERIOR Kalila Hamilton-Bachiu, On

e Shores of Lake Superior, Acrylic on Canvas, 2020, 16" x 24"

This painting’s purpose was to explore colour theory and composition. For a reference, I used a photograph taken by my father of the rugged, rocky shores of Lake Superior. This composition is particularly pleasing because it takes the shape of an “L”, allowing for an easy flow for the eye to follow. I decided to use a complimentary colour scheme (orange and blue) for this painting in order to best illustrate its atmosphere and setting. The slightly abstracted landscape is an attempt to liken the painting to the works done by the Group of Seven— adopting broken brush strokes and breaking forms into shapes helped achieve this objective.

THE NORTHERN PINE Kalila Hamiton-Bachiu,

e Northern Pine, Acrylic on Canvas, September, 14 2021, 16” x 20”

This painting was commissioned by one of my friends after seeing one of my previous pieces—“The Surreal Wilderness of the North”. They generously left most of the parameters of the painting open to my creativity, but said that they really loved the theme of nature, as well as the colour field and the use of geometric shapes and lines. I created an initial sketch digitally to show them my ideas and from there went on to the good copy. The digital sketch was crucial, as it allowed me to render the composition until I reached a satisfactory outcome.

MONA LISA Poem by Kalila Hamiton-Bachiu, January 2022 I am fame.

Between the moments and days

I live in a fortress of glass and honour.

Of my visitors,

The crowning jewel is my worth,

Between the years and decades

But none can see my deceptive light.

Of my miserable existence,

I have as many admirers as zeros,

I continue to sit

Yet their sum will amount to no truth.

Upon my unhappy throne.

A smile is painted upon my face.

Watching while others watch me;

No measure of time will remove it.

Crowds always remaining

I learned early on that the e ort I give

A passing shadow;

Isn’t worth the attention I receive.

Never bothering to revive my

But now that I have begun, there is no stopping.

Frozen image or my

I am a fraud;

Frozen smile.

The lies I tell build my image

Now the icicles in my heart grow

And the smile is my final touch.

And the pain buried not far beneath

But if i scrape it o ,

the layers harden;

I fear all I will find beneath

And with it,

Is an empty void.

The smile upon my weary lips.

They come to see me smile but no one bothers To look beneath.

My cheeks are cracking from the e ort, Yet all they do is watch.

A faded memory is all I will be If I allow the same fate to fall upon my lips.

It is easier in the moments when the lies I tell Ring true in others.

The evidences of happiness upon their face Is something my perfectly balanced image Of light and shadow Will never wear.

I have always been curious about the famous Mona Lisa, particularly with her enigmatic smile. But what if she is wearing a mask, and under her smile is unhappiness? This poem is exploring an unusual take on the mystery of the Mona Lisa—a reality that many individuals, when reading the poem, will relate to.

CONNECTING ABOVE Kalila Hamilton-Bachiu, Connecting Above, Acrylic on Canvas, 2020, 12" x 16"

When I painted “Connecting Above”, my class was learning about abstraction. So, naturally, we learned about some of the great artists like Picasso, Joan Miro, and Wassily Kandinsky who mastered the art of abstraction. Having their work in my mind, I began my own abstract painting. I chose to use shapes in my composition because I thought their effect in Kandinsky’s work was quite appealing. Throughout my planning process, I put special emphasis on the principles of balance and movement. I had to take under consideration the placement of shapes and colour in order to establish a pleasing composition which, looking at the finished product, I think was accomplished.

THE JOURNEY OF THE SOUL Kalila Hamilton-Bachiu, Journey of the Soul, Acrylic on Canvas, February 2021, 16” x 20”

“The Journey of the Soul” was the first commission I created for someone. While I learned about this new process, I also had the opportunity to explore my religious beliefs through the expression of art. This piece was inspired by some Holy Writings that describe the stages a soul must progress in order to achieve union with its Creator. These stages are called “the seven valleys”, which I represented in this painting, and the sun is what I used to represent union with our Creator.

WITH SUMMER COMING TO AN END Creative Writing Piece by Kalila Hamiton-Bachiu, May 2021 With summer coming to an end, With leaves once young and supple now rigid and faded, With animals once care-free and young now preparing for the trials of winter, With young children once running with bare feet now buying new shoes for school With a girl once in the loving embrace of her family now leaving their arms and facing the world alone.

With the summer coming to an end, I started grappling with the fact that I would not be returning to the life I was accustomed to. As I started packing all the things I was going to take with me to my new home, I began to realize the volumes of others I wasn't able to bring. Leaving was new and exciting, but at the same time I was paralyzed with fear. Doubt ran through my mind like pebbles rolling ahead of a landslide. “It is only for a year”, was the wall that kept the landslide back from crushing everything in its path. Thinking of everything I was losing was a runaway train gaining momentum with every passing second, but the railroad switch that prevented the inevitable crash was the thought of all the things I was gaining.

With summer coming to an end, With mother’s natures once soft caress now a sharp sting, With young ducklings and noisy geese once forlicking now taking o toward eternal summer, With lakes once alive with happy families now full of empty winter-ready cabins, With me once laughing with my friends now sitting in an empty room peering out a window at an unfamiliar street.

My excitement was a worthy opponent to my fear. So many new faces swirled in my memory, my mind scrambling to connect them with names. I realized how sheltered the world I was living in was. By moving away from home, I was able to become a true citizen of the world with open eyes and hearing ears. Life wasn’t just about winning my favourite sport or about getting the best grades in my class. It wasn’t about how many friends I had, but who I was friends with. It wasn’t about wearing the best clothes and buying into the new best thing, but rather about why some lived with barely enough to sustain themselves and what I could do to change that.

With the summer coming to an end, With the swings that once rocked in the wind now packed away in a bursting garage, With the sun kissed girls and boys once care-free now pinched with the worries of school, With gardens once filled with green frills now picked clean and withering, With me once living under a rock now exposed to the vast and daunting sky.

It is now approaching two years since I made that move, and part of me wonders if summer will ever come again. I am thankful for the winter, but part of me is reminiscent of the sunny days when innocence surrounded me like a halo, when I danced in the rain oblivious of the inevitable sickness that would catch me in its cage-like claws.

With summer coming to an end, The world stopped dreaming.

“With Summer Coming to an End” was a blog post I wrote in my grade twelve english class based on the prompt “the loss of innocence”. My writing was inspired by the move I made the year before. This move signalized the end of my childhood because of the independence I gained and my growing awareness the injustices of this world—injustices specifically found among my peers and among the immigrant families I grew acquainted with.

GODDESS OF SPRING Kalila Hamilton-Bachiu, Goddess of Spring, Linocut Print, 2021, 6" x 9"

For part of my grade twelve culminating artwork, I chose a theme and created two to three artworks under it. The theme I chose was on the greek goddess of spring, Persephone, partly due to my fascination with ancient Greece and also because I find her tragic story intriguing.

Choosing linocut as my medium was ambitious, however, I was confident in my ability to learn the techniques necessary to master the medium. The planning process was quite complex; I had to map out the highlights, middle-tones, and darks in a way I had never done before. The colours I chose were a complimentary scheme that reflected the contrasts in persephone’s story—the blue symbolized her status in the underworld and the yellow symbolized her role as the goddess of spring. I had to make use of my knowledge of positive and negative space, figure proportions, and values in order to achieve the final desired work.

GODDESS OF SPRING SERIES Kalila Hamilton-Bachiu, Goddess of Spring Series, Monoprint, 2021, 11”x14”

This print is also depicting the figure of Persephone, but using a different form of print-making—monoprint. The purpose of these prints were almost purely experimental. I seized the opportunity to create this unique art piece under the knowledgable guidance of my teacher, not knowing when I would have another chance to develop my skills further. The first and second prints turned out quite differently—the second being more transparent. I decided to add light hatchings of ink on top of the second print to provide more structure and texture to the print.

BUST OF PERSEPHONE Kalila Hamilton-Bachiu, Bust of Persephone, Clay, 2021, 11cm x 11cm x 9cm

This is a bust of the greek goddess of spring, Persephone. The clay sculpture was the third component of my culminating assignment, all of which was inspired by the same theme (Persephone). Because statues and architecture had such a large prevalence in ancient Greece, I decided to incorporate it into my assignment. When sculpting the bust, I had to pay close attention to the proportions of the face and the techniques used to sculpt. When creating her bust, the quote from Michelangelo came to mind about his sculpting process: “I am not going to make anything out of it [marble]. I am going to find something in it.”

LOST IN SILENCE Poem by Kalila Hamiton-Bachiu, January 2022 I maintain a steady silence— I feel as though I have no other choice.

Even when I try to emit a note I find that I have no voice.

I can sense it building— The absence of hectic sound, Now a deafening pitch Making it impossible to be found.

It seems as though all the others Discovered their melodies with ease.

But when I attempt to join, All that I can utter is a wheeze.

Even when I am invisible, I am exposed to their judging eyes.

They tunnel into my skin, Tearing down my feeble disguise.

I am tired of my aching throat And weary of my throbbing heart.

And I wish with every fibre That I could tear myself apart.

I hope beyond all hope That the pain will at long last give in To the long awaited respite I have desperately yearned to win.

This poem is a product of emotion expressed through words and letters on a page. I have found that writing is a way for me to release stress and pouring forth thoughts I am unable to share.

Usually when I begin writing, my ideas naturally flow into lines and stanzas, forming a poem inspired by my own feelings. After, when I have a rough outline that I am satisfied with, I go back and refine the little things to create a seamless flow. This particular poem is about my struggles finding a listening ear and of making my voice heard.

LEP NORDIC SKIING LOGO Kalila Hamilton-Bachiu, LEP Nordic Logo, Digital, December 2020

I designed this for a logo contest my high school (LoEllen Park SS) was holding for the nordic skiing team. I entered my design and it was selected as the new logo for the team, of which I was a member. While creating the logo, I had to ensure that it was simple, yet eye-drawing.

The skiers form a triangular composition, which is complemented by pine trees carefully placed in the background. The colours were arranged so there would always be a pleasing contrast.

CONCEALED SWORD Kalila Hamilton-Bachiu, Concealed Sword, Acrylic on Canvas, May 2021, 18” x 24”

This artwork is an exploration of symbolism. I was commissioned to paint an artwork that incorporated themes of youth and the possibilities of the future. I decided to incorporate these components in a subtle way within a scenic painting: the path disappearing into the woods represents the journey we walk through life, the lines creating an arrow represents the potential youth have to become leaders, and the three circles symbolize the new horizons that open as we develop our capacities.

ÓBIDOS SERIES Kalila Hamilton-Bachiu, Óbidos Series, Watercolour on Paper, 2020, 9" x 14"

Inspired by a trip I had taken to Portugal the previous summer, this watercolour series reflects the quaint architecture and narrow streets that captured my attention. When I selected the reference photos, I ensured that all three had similar colour palettes and imagery so the series would be unified and balanced. This being my first time using watercolours on an assignment, I made sure to experiment with mixing the colours and techniques before I started on my good copy (examples below). This project was a huge learning curve for me because I learned how to master a different medium and was able to keep the technique and colouring consistent throughout all the parts of the series.

A DAY IN THE METRO Creative Writing Piece by Kalila Hamiton-Bachiu, May 2021 I sat silently with a paintbrush in hand, observing the bustle and noise enveloping around me. If I blocked my ears, the visuals vibrated in sound; a hatchling taking flight, or the change of the seasons. When I closed my eyes, the same e ect seemed to take place; of thousands of little ants building a hill, or a school of fish swimming through the sea. I smiled to myself and took in a deep breath through my nose. The smell of exhaust and the tang of metal overwhelmed my senses. At this moment I felt like the only person in the world, everything else was smoke passing by, instants later dispersing into extinction. How could I capture a moment so fragile and fleeting? The senses were everywhere, so abstract yet at the same time so concrete. I would have to match the nature of the moment to create a just feeling, a method with the same degree of abstraction. I smiled at a young girl as she passed, her face creating a snapshot in my mind, and, like that, she disappeared. Gone. I sighed and turned to the vast emptiness of the canvas sitting in front of me. I marveled at the thought of turning nothing into pure existence with just a few pigments here and a few shapes there. But, it really isn’t just that, is it? It’s the interactions of elements invisible to the unknowing eye, elements that I have danced with my entire life. These puzzle pieces are the roots of a tree, the blood in our veins, the air under a bird's wings. Contemplating their composition, I turned my attention to the stark sharpness of the black; almost swallowing the delicate, soft faces fluttering in the crowd.

But the faces persisted, floating into appearance here and there, catching the light and reflecting life in the surrounding barren, indi erent metro station. It’s funny how something we create can contradict our very existence without us knowing.

If I had the ability to freeze time, what would I find behind those masks? If I could attach a string of yarn to the owner of all those faces, what web would I spin? These, among many other unanswerable questions haunted me as I captured the feelings in my mind. I snatched this priceless moment with my hand and extracted it from my mind and displayed it onto the blankness in front of me. If someone at this exact second were to pause and look over my shoulder, I doubt they would see what I see; the air under a bird's wings rustling the leaves of a tree, supplied by vessels of water collected by the roots hidden beneath. These fragile fragments require a trained hand and eye to place together to create the perfect moment; a moment full of smells, light, colour and sound. As my brush danced across the surface, the blankness turned into a space occupied; an equilibrium of life and lifelessness; a generation of change and challenge.

Time slid through my fingers, everything around me seeping into my canvas, or rather, my canvas seeping into everything around me. The brush, an extension of my mind; the canvas, my imagination; the paints, my thoughts. Everything came together seamlessly, the moment captured.

As I became one of the nameless faces, I thought how curious it was that I, like many others, spent thousands of moments trying to capture a brief point in time. I chuckled to myself at the irony. But this thought did not stop my fascination in the ability to capture something so fleeting and share it with thousands of others. I retraced the trail I created back to my flat and assimilated back into reality with an overwhelming sense of the present.

The apparition of these faces in the crowd: Petals on a wet, black bough. — Ezra Pound The poem “In a Station of a Metro” by Ezra Pound was what inspired this writing piece. When I was reading the short poem, a painting by Claude Monet came to mind called “The Gare SaintLazare”, which depicted a bustling train station. With these two pieces in mind, I combined the thoughts of Ezra Pound and the perspective of Monet and turned it into a small monologue.

MANDALORIAN Kalila Hamilton-Bachiu,

e Mandalorian, Pencil Crayon and Marker, 2021, 8.5” x 11”

Realistic drawing is something I have been perfecting for a long time. I first began with graphite pencil, but more recently I have been experimenting with colour pencils. For this drawing, I used a new technique: layering pencil crayon over a base layer of marker. The marker’s purpose was to make the blending of the pencil crayon easier and to give the drawing solidity. I only used three to four essential colours to block in basic areas with marker, then came in with the pencil to make it more detailed. The goal of this drawing was partly experimental, but mostly it was just for my own enjoyment.

FIND ME SERIES Kalila Hamilton-Bachiu, find Me series, Acrylic on Canvas, December 5, 2021, 12”x16”

This three-part painting series was a commission from a friend. They expressed that they wanted a series of paintings with mountains and components of a specific quote from the Holy Writings (below) symbolized in some way. Through a long brainstorming process, I was able to come up with an image that fit all of the parameters. The “Ocean of Science” was represented in the mountains, as they both resemble mountains and the waves of an ocean. The multiple circles symbolize the Sun of Perception; double circles exemplify the senses we have to perceive (two eyes, two ears, two hands). And finally, the Falcon is shown on the right with its wingspan all-encompassing.

“…Pass by whatever exists in this world and find Me. I am the Sun of Perception and the Ocean of Science. I revive the withered ones and quicken the dead. I am that Light which illumines the path of Insight. I am the Falcon of the Hand of the Almighty; I bear healing in My wings and teach the knowledge of soaring to the Heaven of Truth.” — Baháʼu'lláh

THE WALLS I BUILD Poem by Kalila Hamiton-Bachiu, January 2022 A citadel is made esteemed by its walls; They are a barrier built to protect.

Without a doubt they are an advantage, But mine have become a defect.

One is made from brick and stone, Another from the fear Of being alone.

Yet the walls I strove to raise Have amounted to no use.

Because as the clay and slip harden, My heart falls into disuse.

And the sombre shadows casted cement Into sinister nightmares Of desolate lament.

And no matter how hard I try, I can’t escape for even a moment.

Since the precious land found within Has now succumbed to a poisonous opponent.

Spreading ever steadily is the plight And I am at a loss At how I am to win this fight.

Inspired by the image of a fortress; I wrote this poem about someone who has difficulty letting people seeing their vulnerabilities. Ironically, isolation becomes what they succumb to in the end. I can relate in some ways to the sufferings of the narrator which is what helped me enter their frame of mind. I used several poetic devices to enhance the quality of the poem. Alliteration, metaphor, personification, rhyme and rhythm are among the many tools I applied.

A BIRD WITHOUT WINGS Kalila Bachiu, A Bird Without Wings, 2020, Installation, 104” x 65.5”

A bird with one injured wing is akin to a bird with no wings at all: neither can fly. In order for the injured bird to succeed in its flight, both wings must be equal in strength and in development. Within the context of my installation, one wing represents the privileged, the other represents the unprivileged; the bird being humanity. In society, it is clear that youth from lower income families do not get the same amount of opportunities as youth from higher income families. Due to this social injustice issue, youth from lower income families face formidable obstacles in their flight to success. How can they fly when their wings are made of paper? What will happen when it rains?

I reflected this concept in my artwork by creating wings of paper and a background of rain. My goal in this project was to raise awareness of the struggles of youth who face economic obstacles, and to motivate those who have more privilege to give back.