ISSUE TWELVE (threads that bind) An excerpt from Soul Strangers, Alone Together BY Shana Chandra in conversation with artist Peggy Kuiprt Surrounded by faces and hands in bright colours. It’s always uncomfortable to meet new people. There are so many of them here, but nobody makes contact. Nobody is watching us, watching them. Who are they? They are all me. Or maybe they’re you. They could be anybody who has ever felt unseen and unacknowledged. All the people from my paintings come from the same place. They have so much to say, but they won’t dare to speak up. They just sit there, quietly, staring off into space. You can tell they have so much love to give by the warmth of their hands. But their faces remain absent. There were not born like that; I think the world raised them to be so. The easy road never felt rightful for me. I am quite comfortable walking alone. It shows in my paintings, where faces remain absent even when surrounded by many others. Always in search of something. – Peggy Kuiper, notes on her paintings Image: paradox by peggy kuiper, 2022