The diminutive Sumayyah al Suwaidi is a force of nature: mother of five, fashion designer, boutique owner, full-time job holder and art curator. She has also become one of the best known Emirati digital artists. She says she can’t really paint or draw… but she plans to learn
You’ve got a lot on your plate, as is, where do you find time to create art?
People ask me how I make time for art when you have a family, a full-time job, a boutique, this and that; and I say it’s not making time, it’s part of my day. If I don’t do it I don’t feel complete.
It’s not a hobby, it’s not a job, it’s where I go to when I feel like expressing something.
Inspiration often follows emotion. If I’ve had an argument, or if something has made me cry, when I’m really going through something, that’s when my best pieces come out. And I play loud music, sad Bollywood songs or hard rock like Creed.
I wouldn’t have guessed either of those. So how do you work?
I don’t work from a white screen. I sometimes start with a sketch. Or maybe I collect the images first. Then I make a collage – either I use images from stock libraries or I take the photographs myself, and I also have friends who are photographers. Then I use work on the collage using different software, painting on the collage with specific brushes and colours.
Drawing I enjoyed as a child, but I never really knew how to draw – I still don’t. And I’m not ashamed of that. All my paintings and drawings are done through the computer.
I discovered computers in 1996 and saw software that could do amazing stuff. I chose to do graphic design at HCT, the closest course I could find to computer art in Abu Dhabi.
When I graduated I worked as a graphic designer for six years. But I’d already done my first collection of digital artworks in 2001 when I was still in college, and in no time they’d all sold out – they were all about Sheikh Zayed – and I thought this is something I really have to continue. My first real show was in 2003 with some of the biggest names in Emirati art and I haven’t stopped since.
How many works would you produce in a year?
Maybe around 20. I don’t print everything that I do – when you have five kids at home you don’t have much storage space, so I usually print only when there is a particular exhibition.
Is there a difference between fashion and art?
I don’t see them as similar in any way. For me art is fantasy, something imaginary, something surreal. Fashion is reality, it must be practical. I’ve printed my art on to T-shirt dresses, but the final result is fashion because it’s wearable. It looks good, but it’s practical.
Do you feel the responsibility of being a role model?
When I started it was really difficult to get into a gallery or an exhibition. This is why I started curating open-call art exhibitions in 2007 – I had reached a point where I thought I could give something back, perhaps show others the opportunities, give advice.
My best-known regular exhibition is the Ramadan Art Bazaar – this year’s is the sixth – and that started because I felt that everyone should have the chance to own original art. Why should it be for only rich people? The more people collect art, the more they’ll understand it. So I convinced some top artists to give me works at prices much lower than normal. You could buy a Jalal Luqman work which might normally go for
AED 50,000 for around AED 4,000. Mattar Bin Lahej can sell a piece for maybe AED 60,000; at my show it’s AED 4,000.
We have 22 to 24 artists, each with three to five works, and we can’t show them all. But as soon as a piece is sold the buyer takes it away immediately and we hang another one in its place, so the show is constantly changing.
Do you feel that your style is changing?
There’s always a new version of the software with something new to explore, and I keep myself up to date – I subscribe to a lot of websites and magazines, especially about digital art.
For the past three years I’ve been moving towards more mixed media pieces, not just digital art. I find it more expressive. For instance, The Ballerina has a real tutu and crystals, feathers… I even have two pieces that I’ve actually painted on with traditional oil paints. I’ll definitely do more of this; to me it feels much more expressive, more attractive.
The Other Side of Me
Different World
Sumayyah al Suwaidi exhibits her work regularly. The sixth Ramadan Art Bazaar runs at Ghaf Art Gallery between 11th July and 9th August; artists are welcome to submit work – download the application form from www.sumayyahalsuwaidi.com
