When i first started painting,i was exposed to many contemporary artwork and visited so many galleries but i was concerned about a specific subject,which is the lack in the number of contemporary artwork with ‘Emirati’ content.I wanted people to understand the beauty of this culture and connect with it.Started painting in 2009,Van Gough,Picaso and Warhol were my teachers.
INTERACTIVE ART INSTALLATION - ‘CONVERSATION’ SHARJAH 2012
I wanted people to be part of my work so i created a piece inspired by an old traditional bedouin seating arrangement,cushions with a coal holder in the middle for making coffee.The main element in this piece is ofcourse coffee so i fixed bulbs that light up resembling the start of a ‘conversation’.Coffee was always a conversation starter,Arabs use it as a symbol of connection whereas some cultures use tea for instant.
STREET ART STICKERS - LONDON l DUBAI 2012
Getting your artwork out there in the streets is quite daring and extremely benefits you in terms of connection between art and people.The streets are a magnet for these adhesive miniature works of art.There is no specific catagory when it comes to your crowd,it can be a random person who notices unusual things on the streets or ‘details’.This ‘humble’ sticker of an Arabian lady pouring Arabic coffee became my daring artistic tool and the streets became my gallery.I created different sizes of the sticker and stuck it in random places in London and Dubai.
STREET ART INSTALLATION PROJECT - LONDON 2011
I suddenly felt the necessaty to introduce something i encounter back home on everyday basis that i could turn into an artpiece.Only this time i wasnt looking for a fancy gallery in the middle of the city,i just went straight to the streets.I used to see all these posters,colorful graffiti and stencils in the urban side of various cities in Europe and i always wondered why dont we ‘Arabs’ have that? is it because we dont have Arab street artists or we dont understand street art? I wanted to experement this artistic ‘non-commercial’ movement and use a powerful element from my Arabian culture,Arabic coffee.I see coffee as one of the most powerful elements,it connects us and creates conversation,it is simply the greatest link that joins cultures.I placed a cultural tool in the streets of London and studied how the people reacted to a different culture.Now coffee (in the arabian culture) is considered a powerful welcoming sign.The story starts when two people encounter each other:first part of the story is getting to know the other side’s briefed introduction then inviting them for coffee.