Art student Chika Timothy creates despite the inability to visualise images
In a world where most artists rely on visual imagination, Chika Timothy creates without it..
Before she knew she had aphantasia—the inability to visualise images—Timothy adopted art as a personal indulgence on February 14, 2019. Approximately 2-4 percent of the world’s population has congenital or acquired aphantasia. Still an underexplored phenomenon, this absence of a “mind’s eye” might be experienced more widely, but most people, like Chika, are unaware that they are experiencing the world differently.
Choosing oil paint first, despite its notorious difficulty for beginners, that single act evolved into a deep love of art, and an eventual transition to UWI St Augustine, as a Department of Creative and Festival Arts (DCFA) student. Timothy would soon spend candlelight hours at her little computer desk learning techniques and painting until she came up with pieces she described as “sensible”.
A few months later, she entered several of these into a group exhibition in Trinidad. No overnight success, Timothy described her pieces as “awful” and “amateur” in comparison to the work displayed. Yet, despite the contrast in skill, she found the experience motivating and deeply connective.
Her propensity to lock into every interest she developed accelerated her improvement. Before attending UWI, Timothy also worked as an assistant art teacher in her native Tobago, gathering tips and tricks from the art teachers around her.
“I really wanted to learn the rules in order to break them,” she said. “I was very obnoxious with my gallery visits.”
Gallery opening after gallery opening, Timothy studied the work of local artists, Jackie Hinkson and Kenwyn Crichlow most notably. Two very different artists in their motifs, one represented her struggle for cultural representation in her art, the other spoke to her challenges with expressing abstract concepts due to aphantasia.
The rest of her art journey was much like that. Painting without visual reference requires an alternative approach. Instead of conjuring images in her mind, Timothy developed her work through observation and persistence, taking care not to erase the mistakes. Having no image in her head to compare it to meant that her pieces would have to take shape before her eyes and not behind them, giving her a unique relationship with creation - one that was felt rather than seen.
Her artistic genre remains undefined, but her focus on conversation and expression has shaped the process. Drawing on her love for photography, she leaned heavily into hyper- realism, recalling one of her earlier themes, understanding men’s mental health.
Suffering personal losses before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic, Timothy struggled to translate grief to art, often bottling up emotions instead. She learned to embrace the mistakes, understanding that not every feeling could be expressed with a brush. Seeking support, she utilised several on-campus resources to help her navigate these emotionally taxing years.
“I’d say the most effective tool I’ve used to overcome my artistic shortcomings is being able to embrace, reshape and manipulate failures,” she said. “Though it is uncomfortable to work through, I have to reinvent each error, using them as direction rather than discouragement.”
She added, “sometimes, I’m mentally strong enough to see beyond or between the wacky proportions or bad shading and see a solution right there. Those are the moments when I’d say I have truly created something impactful.”
And what does impact mean for her?
“My driving force goal is to connect with emotions and human behavior, whether it’s for myself, to connect with loved ones or strangers, or to have a conversation that can go beyond words. I love the brain, and I want to use my art to help me understand its complexities.”
Becoming part of the weft of the university, Timothy serves as a student content creator in UWI’s Marketing and Communications Office, assisting most notably with capturing graduation moments that are published instantly, unfiltered and unedited. A task that requires a mixture of speed and an eye for good photo composition. For Timothy, artistic accomplishment isn’t measured in technical mastery; it’s found in the relationships and connections built through art. Art is not about recreating what she sees; it’s about being able to converse with others. Without the guidance of a visual imagination, she must continue to explore the conversation with her brush strokes, each mistake a continuation of the conversation. And as she continues to shape her artistic identity, she continues to be in conversation through her work.
