Yasmin Watts’ practice is a conversation between hand and structure, between embodied intuition and architectural thought. Each work begins in rhythm: sketching, cutting, folding. Models built from cardboard and paper become spatial rehearsals—mapping out how form might breathe.

I build rhythm. I look for calm in structure.
I look for stillness in repetition.
I make space to wait. To rest. To hold. To be.

Her training in architecture informs her sensitivity to proportion and spatial choreography. But her sculptural methodology moves beyond function into material feeling. Repetition becomes language. Rhythm becomes structure.

Figures are developed through drawing and clay; refined by gesture, not symmetry. Their positioning is as critical as their form; they rest within space as if remembering something lost. Clay, wax, plaster and ash become tactile carriers of memory.

I carve space. I carve silence. I don’t fill it. I don’t explain.
I shape. I listen. I remember. I become.

Surface is never passive. It is carved, layered, pierced, coloured—always responsive. Pigments drawn from Zoroastrian tradition; flame reds, ash greys, verdant greens, binding material with heritage.

I was born from fire. Zoroastrian fire.
A memory of fire. A flame passed down.
Palm to palm. Mouth to mouth.
Still burning. I hold it.

I sculpt with time and tension.
Each mark remembers something the body knew before language.

Sustainability is integral. Watts works with reclaimed materials; wood, metals, earth-based compounds, where rawness and refinement coexist. These materials don’t hide their past; they hold it.

Her process folds across disciplines. Painting becomes spatial. Sculpture becomes rhythmic. Light is used not as highlight, but as structure—shaping how space is felt.

Material has weight. It has temperature. It tells the truth.
You can touch it. It touches back.

Watts builds through listening: to materials, to absence, to proximity. This is a methodology not of production, but of attention.

I don’t explain. I shape. I listen. I remember.
I become.

I don’t begin with answers.
I build to ask.
I layer until something begins to breathe.

The result is a body of work that remembers through form; sculptures that don’t explain, but embody.

Concept stages

My making methods involve testing concepts with paper models.
Hand-crafted concept maquette by Yasmin Watts, made from recycled materials, reflecting her sustainable artistic practice.

My making methods involve testing concepts with paper models.

Initial hand sketches by Yasmin Watts, capturing spatial and conceptual ideas that guide her creative process.
Hand-crafted concept maquette by Yasmin Watts, made from recycled materials, reflecting her sustainable artistic practice.
Through digital design, Yasmin Watts breathes life into her concept sketches, unfolding them into expansive sculptural forms that blend imagination and precision.
Through digital design, Yasmin Watts breathes life into her concept sketches, unfolding them into expansive sculptural forms that blend imagination and precision.
Clay sculptures of people using mobile phones, displayed on wooden bases and platforms.
A cardboard art piece in the shape of a human head and face, mounted on a white foam board, with various tools and supplies in the background.
Sculpture in progress of two young girls on a staircase, with one sitting on a step and the other standing at the bottom, in a workshop setting.
Painting of three people sitting on benches inside a building with large windows, and a person standing in a doorway, with varied lighting and shadows.
Painting of two people, one standing and one lying on the ground, positioned in front of a vibrant green structure with geometric lines, set against an orange background.

Paintings

Yasmin’s paintings offer a profound extension of her sculptural vision, bridging the dimensionality of her three-dimensional works with a more intimate two-dimensional expression. These paintings present a complementary layer to her exploration of nature, the human form and the interplay of emotional and physical realms.

While sculpture remains the core of her practice, the paintings offer a more direct, fluid approach to the organic forms, movement and emotional resonance that define her three-dimensional work. The abstract shapes within these paintings evoke both fluidity and tension, mirroring the dynamic balance found in her sculptures. Through the interplay of bold lines, textured surfaces and a varied colour palette—from earthy tones to vibrant hues—her paintings invite the viewer into a realm of depth, offering an emotional dialogue akin to the tactile experience of her sculptural forms.

Space plays a central role in these works, much as it does in her installations. The compositions provoke a sense of transformation or motion, urging viewers to contemplate the relationship between the figures and their surrounding space. This inquiry mirrors her sculptural investigations into how form and space influence human experience. Through this dialogue, Yasmin’s paintings create a seamless extension of her ongoing exploration of identity, embodiment, and the silent architecture that binds the body to its environment.

A person in a camouflage jacket standing in front of an abstract mural featuring orange geometric structures and green framework.
An abstract painting depicting a modern interior with multi-colored glass walls, wooden beams, and two figures, one standing and looking at a phone, and another visible through the glass.
A boy with a hoodie looking at a geometric, colorful abstract sculpture made of interconnected red, blue, and green shapes inside a room.
Painting of two children playing near a small shed with large green leaves framing the scene, red background wall.
Interior of a modern building with colorful walls and shadows of two people, one standing near the wall and the other sitting on the ground.

Sculpting process

Clay sculpture of three seated people in a studio with sketches on the wall behind them.
Line drawing of a man sitting on a ledge or bench, smiling, with hands clasped together, wearing a jacket, pants, and sneakers, on graph paper background.
Sketch of three women sitting, viewed from different angles, with a grid background.
Sketch of two men dressed in suits standing on a grid.
Clay sculpture of a girl sitting cross-legged on a wooden base
A bronze statue of a man standing with a confident posture, looking upward with hands in his pockets, dressed in a suit with a casual jacket, on a wooden base.

Sculpted figures captured from life models in pencil sketches, sculpted in clay and wax, cast in jesmonite and plaster and hand-painted.

Sequence of images showing the evolution of a sculpted figure: sketch studies, clay sculpture, 3D scan, and a painted sculpture of a seated child.

Evolutions of a sculpted figure from sketch studies, sculpting in clay, 3D scan of sculpted figure to change scale and proportion, cast and hand-painted completed figure.