FEATURED • ARTIST
Indigo and Earth:
The Abstract Work of
Jake Paul White
Words by The Punch
Photography by Jake Paul White
Some artists create to be seen. Others create to connect—with themselves, with the material, and with the world around them. British artist Jake Paul White, now based in Bali, is the second kind. His paintings are soft and spacious. They don’t try to impress. They invite you in—quietly, slowly—like a breath you didn’t know you were holding.
Jake works with natural pigments like clay, tea, iron oxide, and indigo. He doesn’t paint in a traditional way. Instead, he pours, stains, and soaks the canvas, allowing the materials to move on their own. His process isn’t about control. It’s about listening—watching how the pigments settle, how the water dries, how time leaves its mark. Each piece becomes a record of a moment: not fixed, but always changing. The layers are delicate, the tones earthy and washed, often hovering between image and atmosphere. His paintings ask you to slow down and feel, rather than figure them out.
In early 2023, Jake created a body of work called the Indigo Series. Using pigment made from the Indigofera tinctoria plant—used for centuries across Indonesia—this series honors the traditions of natural dyeing. The deep blues come from leaves that are soaked, fermented, and exposed to air before they reveal their color. It’s a process that takes time, care, and patience. Just like the paintings themselves.
These works are shaped not just by pigment, but by rhythm—by repetition, by chance, and by the quiet collaboration between the artist and the material. They feel timeless. Grounded in something older than technique.
Jake’s connection to place continued to grow when he took part in an artist residency at Cap Karoso in Sumba. There, surrounded by dry landscapes and local dyeing traditions, his practice became even more focused. He didn’t arrive with a plan. He came to observe, to learn, and to be part of the land and the community around him. The work he created in Sumba carries that feeling. The brushstrokes became softer. The layers more open. You can feel the shift—from making to listening. From leading the work to letting it unfold.
Jake Paul White’s paintings don’t ask to be explained. They simply offer a space to pause. A space to return to. Through earth-based materials and a process of quiet attention, he reminds us that art—and life—can be shaped by care, by slowness, and by a deep respect for the world around us. In a time that moves fast and often forgets what matters, his work is a gentle invitation to remember.
EXPLORE JAKE PAUL WHITE