Above the noise with Mokshini

Every Volume, Folk pairs two rare coffees with a piece of art that captures the same spirit as what's in the bag: something worth pausing for. For Volume 07: First Light, that piece is Rooftop Hunt, and the artist behind it is Mokshini.

Mokshini's work is drawn to the small theater of everyday life: eccentric characters, expressive clothes, architecture, passing gestures, and the little moments that make a scene feel alive. Born in Sri Lanka, raised in New Zealand, and now based in Brooklyn, she brings a bright, observant sense of humor to the people and places around her.

In Rooftop Hunt, the city opens up from above. Rooftops become little stages: pools, gardens, sunbathers, umbrellas, conversations, and quiet moments happening high above the street. The piece feels sunny and effortless at first, but the longer you look, the more alive it becomes. That sense of lightness runs through the piece: bright, layered, and full of details that reveal themselves slowly. Look once and you see a city. Look again and you find a whole hidden life above it.

It's that same quality of patience rewarded and details revealed slowly that made us want to dig in with Mokshini and ask her about her process.

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You began in fashion illustration before your practice expanded in so many directions. What did fashion teach you about looking at people?

Fashion illustration is really a genre of its own. For me, it's about immediacy, gesture, and movement. It's where I became obsessed with how much emotion and energy a single line can hold. It taught me the power of simplification, and of allowing the viewer's eye to complete the image. Sometimes just a few lines can capture a person's movement, expression, or essence.

That idea has stayed with me throughout my practice: how to capture someone with as little as possible, while still making them feel completely alive.

Your work often makes everyday people feel like characters and everyday happenings feel like scenes. Where does that way of seeing come from?

I've always loved observing people, watching interactions, and noticing those small moments that are so easy to overlook. I often find myself wondering where someone has come from, what they're thinking, or what their story might be.

That curiosity naturally feeds into my work, where I like treating everyday people as the protagonists of their own stories. I enjoy turning ordinary moments into small narratives. They might seem quiet or unremarkable, but they carry so much beauty, humour, and humanity.

For me, it's about being present enough to really witness the world around me, and in a way, allowing people to see themselves reflected through my work.

Your work can be playful without becoming cartoonish, and stylish without becoming cold. How do you hold those things together?

It's definitely a balancing act between whimsy and sophistication. The playfulness comes through in my use of colour, movement, and composition, which keeps things light and dynamic.

What stops it from becoming too cartoonish is my approach to proportion. My figures stay rooted in real proportions rather than exaggerated caricature, and I like bringing attitude into people's expressions and poses, which is where the fashion influence and sense of sophistication comes through.

At the same time, I always try to keep humour, joy, and warmth in the characters, which keeps them human and prevents the work from feeling too cold or serious.

In Rooftop Hunt, there are so many tiny scenes happening at once. Do the characters arrive first, or does the composition lead you to them?

Like nearly all of my pieces, this scene was inspired by personal experience. I love spending summer evenings hopping between friends' rooftops and hotel rooftops, looking for new angles of the city. From above, you really see it as an ecosystem, where so many small moments are happening all at once.

That's why I was drawn to the bird's-eye view for this piece, so composition definitely came first. The characters came later, and they just became part of the rhythm of the scene rather than the focus. They're intentionally secondary, small in scale and kept quite loose and minimal in detail.

I was also really interested in playing with the shadows across the buildings, and the contrast between the bright blue water and green trees against the grey of the cityscape.

You've done a lot of live drawing, where speed, instinct, and confidence matter. What has drawing in front of people taught you that private studio work could not?

Live drawing is such an integral part of my practice. I still do these events for a few reasons. In a way, it's like sharpening my toolkit, keeping my instincts active. It trains my hand-eye coordination, my speed, and my ability to multitask. Talking to people, making them feel comfortable, and drawing at the same time can be challenging, but I enjoy that stretch.

More than anything, it's taught me how to let go.

In the beginning, I was nervous about drawing live. I worried someone might not like their drawing, or that I'd make a mistake. Over time, I realised it's less about technical perfection and more about making someone feel seen.

I love beautifying people rather than caricaturing them. I watch how someone sits or moves, notice the features that feel distinct, and gently emphasise them in a way that feels flattering and alive. This is where my fashion illustration background really comes through.

On a practical level, it also pulls me out of the studio and into the world. I spend so much time working alone, so these moments feel important for staying connected to people and sharing the work in real time.

You once described your dream project as making a home where everything is yours, from the doorknobs to the dinnerware to the murals. Are you experimenting with anything else right now?

The more I evolve, the more I realise it's about creating a world I can escape into, my own haven. I just moved into a new apartment and painted a large mural across my bedroom walls of a jungle scene, as well as the fireplace, inspired by the temples in Sri Lanka. Maybe in six months I'll want to escape into a different world and repaint everything.

Recently, I've also gone back to simpler things. I've missed painting. While I still illustrate and work with paint, I miss painting without a brief or project outline, without feedback, just me and the work, a direct dialogue with the painting.

It's been lovely to find a balance between commercial work, which feels more linear because I know my process so well, and exploring my internal world and the unknown through painting, which has definitely been more of a rollercoaster. It's helped me slow down, step back, and revisit images. This way of creating feels very different from the fast-paced nature of commercial work.

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That instinct to slow down, look twice, and find what's hiding in a quiet moment is exactly why Rooftop Hunt felt like the right piece to pair with Volume 07: First Light.

Explore more of Mokshini's work at mokshini.com or @mokshini.