Frame of Mind: how artist Laxmi Hussain keeps her mother close through colour

It is a rare and treasured experience when you walk into a room, start speaking to someone, and, after a beat or two, forget that only moments ago you were strangers. That is the effect Laxmi Hussain had on me - and I suspect it’s the case for everyone who meets her. 

Laxmi is a multidisciplinary artist whose work celebrates the female form with boldness and intimacy. I’ve admired her work for years, so she was the obvious choice to open our new series, Frame of Mind, which explores artists, their memories and their sources of inspiration.

I was initially drawn to her expressive, distinctive style and the way her work honours and celebrates the female form. I’m always moved by art that feels made from the inside out – work that reflects a deep understanding of what it means to inhabit the body and the world being depicted. Like many women who have learned, over time, to feel at home in their bodies, I find the way she portrays her subjects both beautiful and important.

We sat down in her studio, surrounded by artworks and pot plants, coffees steaming quietly beside us. One of the first questions I was eager to ask was about her use of blue, and how it became such a defining part of her practice.

“I always remember my mum dressed in blue, and actually my first memory of her was when she took us back to the Philippines when I was five,” she says. “There was this place we visited and I remember that day really vividly. It’s called the Hundred Islands, not far from where we lived. I was in the sea and walking around with her. After she died, my sister found this photo of my mum in a boat [from that day] wearing denim. I was becoming obsessed with blue because we were losing her. I didn’t really know why, but it became part of my practice and then when I saw this photo it just all made sense. Blue is a way of keeping my mum with me. And how can you not love blue?”

Throughout our long conversation, Laxmi moved effortlessly between lightness and gravity. We spoke about the death of both her parents, the grief of losing them and how she honours their love of nature, and her treasure trove of childhood memories including evenings spent drawing alongside her mother. She reflected on parenthood, the changing body, and the societal pressures placed on women – sharing experiences that will feel painfully familiar to many, from breastfeeding her newborn in bathroom stalls or standing outside restaurants.

There was laughter too. We talked about growing up between Eastern and Western cultures, and about art’s capacity to connect us. Spending time with Laxmi felt easy and quietly meaningful. One subject stayed with me in particular: the archival project she is undertaking with her siblings following her parents’ passing. Part of that conversation is shared here in the video below, alongside beautiful photographs from her childhood.