For many years, work in biotechnology kept me moving. I travelled frequently, worked with teams in different countries, and spent much of my time in meetings, hospitals and airports. It was demanding and meaningful work, and it remains an important part of my life.

During the pandemic, that rhythm changed abruptly. For the first time in years, I spent long periods at home. At the same time, I was entering a more entrepreneurial phase of my professional life, which changed the way I thought about time, work and what I wanted to create.

The stillness reminded me of my childhood in an oasis near the Sahara. After school, there was little to do apart from reading, drawing and painting. Art had been part of my life from an early age, even though I had put it aside for many years.

I began painting again without a clear plan. I experimented with acrylics, pouring and drawing, and could spend whole weekends working without noticing the time. The pleasure was immediate. It felt less like starting something new than returning to something familiar.

The first works were abstract. Later came flowers and landscapes shaped by memory. I began to recognise how much my way of looking had been influenced both by science and by the light, space and colours of my childhood.

Painting now exists alongside my work in biotechnology. The two are different, but both begin with attention and curiosity. One asks me to understand; the other allows me to explore without needing a final answer.