The Space Between

Tabassum Malani

Some moments in life ask you to choose. For me it was simple, it’s now or never. In March 2026 I stepped away from a 15 year long engineering career to paint full time. Not because I had it all figured out. I didn’t. But because art is where I feel truly alive and close to my authentic self. That’s what these paintings are about. The horizon theme hit close to home because that’s exactly where I am right now. Somewhere between who I was trained to be and who I actually am. It’s not always comfortable. But it’s the most honest I’ve ever felt. I paint from real life experiences. The messy in-between moments. The emotions that don’t have neat edges. The beauty in things that are still becoming. I collaged my old engineering textbook pages in these paintings. They’re part of the foundation, underneath everything, still holding it together, while something completely new grows on top. There’s calm and chaos in these paintings because that’s what finding yourself actually feels like. There’s a stillness that comes just before everything changes. ‘The space between’ lives in that moment, the quiet before the decision, the breath before the leap. Cool and layered, with things hidden beneath the surface waiting to emerge. I didn’t know what was coming. But something in me already knew it was time.