Issue 8 January 2022 : simplebooklet.com

MODERN R AISSANCE A NOTE FROM CREATE AL THE EDITORS AND APAR 05 Culturally Arts Collective is a community for arts advocacy we aim to increase accessibility and inclusivity in the art world As two young artists we are excited to be a part of Culturally s monthly art magazine Modern Renaissance In this publication we feature creatives from all ages and nationalities exploring aspects of writing design and visual art It s crazy to us that this is our eighth issue What a year Since June our team has explored so many different aspects of the art world From learning about the technical aspects of design journalism and publishing to gaining new perspectives about how art affects the world we ve been able to grow so much over the past eight months We ve had the opportunity to meet and feature artists and galleries from across the globe In publishing this magazine each month we hear diverse points of view Each artist has a unique story they began making art for a specific reason and are driven by certain motivations or inspirations Though the individuals and their experiences are different they have one thing in common they turned to art to express themselves In this month s issue we hear the stories of more incredible artists from around the world We re excited to welcome the start of 2022 with our January issue and we hope you enjoy this issue of Modern Renaissance Alison Chen Art Director Aparna Prabhakar Editor in Chief

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07 However in recent years things have taken a sharp turn for the awards industry Popularity for these extravagant galas is declining and fast In September of 2020 the 72nd Emmy Awards received the smallest audience in the last 30 years the 2021 Academy Awards faced a 56 drop in their audience viewers compared to last year and there have been repeated boycotts of the Grammys through the years DEC LINE And it isn t like there isn t good reason for these declines Nomination boards have gained notoriety for playing favorites when deciding nominees and recipients for example the audiences directed a collective anger towards the Golden Globes when Emily in Paris a show with lackluster ratingwas nominated for two awards while shows with diverse casts such as I May Destroy You which received praise from sites ranging from the Times to IndieWire had been completely snubbed Rumors have circulated that board members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association the nomination board for the Golden Globes were put in a five star hotel in a wine and dine experience Many believe that a backroom deal was reached causing them to swing their vote despite them PEOPLE ARE CALLING FOR WIDER REPRESENTATION THAT IS WHY AWARD SHOWS ARE FACING A MASSIVE DECLINE repeatedly claiming otherwise It was also repeatedly pointed out that the HFPA has not had a single black member present on their board which only led to more criticism This combined with the repeated pattern of self celebratory parties seemed to have put these awards on the precipice To many the award shows have seemed to lose their soul and purpose They were created to celebrate and honor those who are shaping the industry but have instead been used to pat rich executives on the back Many have already commemorated this as the death of award shows Overall it is exceedingly clear that award shows have played a huge role in shaping the world of art and cinema skyrocketing Hollywood to fame all over the world However because of that people are calling for wider representation for the media around the world to be shown Yes AR Rahman was the first Asian to be nominated for multiple Oscars Yes Parasite was the first South Korean film to win a Golden Globe Yes Beyonce is the second most Grammy award winning individual of all time with a groundbreaking 28 awards It shouldn t take cultural waves or the fear of criticism to give rightfullydeserved awards to those who deserve it THAT is why award shows are facing a massive decline not because they actually celebrate the best of today s art but the opposite of that They fail to go beyond the spectrum they re familiar with and they fail to bring something new to the table to tell a new storywhich is a problem Society is so obsessed with the need to see as many gold statues as possible that we forget the point of why they are given at all Art is not supposed to be judged by its feature in an extravagant jamboree but by its ability to draw people in and keep telling them a good story

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10 Create ART from the world STYLES Ever since going to school for art Holmes has called herself an artist From cathedrals in York to the emotions that arose during the pandemic she draws inspiration from the world around her to create stunning pieces of abstract expressionism art Ever since going to school for art Holmes has called herself an artist After establishing a foundation in art she took a visual merchandising course and worked as a window dresser The COVID 19 pandemic reignited her love for painting as she says I think it really helped my mental health actually to get back into doing something really creative Over time Holmes relationship with art has evolved Though she has always loved art she experimented with different styles and techniques over the years When her children were young she began doing arts and crafts with them However one thing stayed constant through it all she utilized art as a means to express herself Holmes also draws inspiration from other artists Her most notable inspirations include David Hockney and Frida Kahlo She also loves The Kiss by Austrian painter Gustav Klimt As she says It has a kind of ethereal feel to it That s my favorite painting Holmes s style of art revolves around the use of acrylics and inks as well as collages She loves this style of art because she s got so much freedom of abstract paintings Viewers can certainly feel the freedom that emanate BE AUTHENTIC PAINT WHAT KNOW PAINT FROM THE HEA One piece in particular that Holmes loves is The Carnival a p created as the COVID 19 restrictions began to lift The piece radiat vibrant colors represent people all over the world getting bac energy of this piece is what Holmes strives to convey in all her p optimism and hope To aspiring artists Holmes has a message Be what you know Don t be influenced by fashions Paint from the h really inspires you To see more of Louise Holmes work you can find her o louise_holmes_artist

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ABSTRACT ARTIST 14 What s your name and where are you from My name is Lina Alousta and I m an abstract artist based in Surrey UK What disciplines mediums or styles of art do you do Mostly I paint in acrylics It s a medium that dries quickly which enables me to continue adding layers to my paintings without delay I also enjoy painting in watercolours which I find quite relaxing How long have you been practicing your art The discovery of my abstract art journey started at the beginning of 2020 when COVID set in I have been creating ever since What sparked your love for it Since my early years I ve developed a love of art and textures which led to a BA Hons in Graphic Design where I discovered screen printing The lusciousness of all that colorful paint instantly appealed to me and I responded well to it The fact that you could see and appreciate the build up of layers in stages is exciting Screen printing is similar to abstract art in that respect you build up layers that create richness and textures The difference is that in abstract art the element of discovery and surprise is constantly unveiling itself with marks that come through as you create Why do you make art Art is liberating it invigorates and reflects my inner soul It captures magical experiences inspired by colors in nature during the different seasons What does art mean to you It enables me to indulge in the zen and respond accordingly by painting the emotions that arouse to capture the moment recent experiences in nature or childhood memories of the sea that evoke a sense of energy and movement What is your artistic process I tend to incorporate mixed media collage layers and sometimes sanding within my paintings They are techniques I use in my paintings to create hidden treasures and rich textures as the painting starts to take shape and form How has your relationship with art changed you over time Art is a constant source of knowledge It has taught me a lot about myself and my art journey mainly patience and resilience It s created friendships and bonds with like minded fellow artists within an inspiring global art community on social media It s even connected me with a long lost classmate across the pond who also happens to be an abstract artist What is your favourite project that you have done In the fall of 2021 I embarked on my first exhibition with the Surrey Artists Open Studio Initially it was something I d planned for in 2022 thinking I wasn t ready for it Then I thought heck there s never a right time So I just went for it With just a month to prepare it was a learning curve in terms of what was involved behind the scenes It was worth every minute ART IS LIBERATING IT INVIGORATES AND REFLECTS MY INNER SOUL IT CAPTURES MAGICAL EXPERIENCES INSPIRED BY COLORS IN NATURE

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15 Who are your artistic inspirations There are many artists I draw inspiration from to name a few they are Dame Barbara Hepworth Patrick Heron Wilhelmina BarnsGraham Degas Ai Weiwei Kasia Clarke Judy Woods Lori Mirabbelli David Mankin and Chris Rivers among many more A passing thought is a powerful source of inspiration for me It s an indication to take notice and act on it without any expectations to follow what you love creating and by doing so the rest will follow WE ARE ALL BORN WITH A CREATIVE GIFT WHATEVER FORM IT MANIFESTS ITSLEF IN CREATIVE IS THE MAGIC I M GRATEFUL FOR AND HAPPY TO SHARE CAPTURE EMOTION Why did you like it The response has been very positive with a few of my paintings being sold It s incredibly rewarding to view your artwork in a different light framed hanging on the walls and presented in a different entourage outside of their natural studio habitat You can suddenly see your style develop I m happy I took the plunge What is your favorite piece of art visual auditory performance etc Primarily a visual artist my secondary favorite type of art form is dance it s the most physical form of gestural expression that everyone can enjoy Does your art have any significant symbolism Mainly the color blue which reflects my love of the sea that I associate with vast open spaces and where I feel most at home I try to reflect that element of space in my paintings Has the stereotypical definition of art impacted your work If so how Briefly all forms of visual art artists and art movements have had an influence in the evolution of art In abstracts all past works and studies from Kadinsly Pollock Mondrian Turner and many others have had an influence Various elements are certainly adopted too What do you hope to accomplish what message do you hope to send through your art We are all born with a creative gift whatever form it manifests itself in Creativity is the magic I m grateful for and happy to share It delights me to know that my paintings connect stir an emotion or trigger a joyful memory for the viewer

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17 D INTERVIEW WITH DORIAN SHINE Maybe I want to contribute to making this planet a better place Q Okay so you live in Canada correct A Yes I moved here a few years ago It has always been a dream destination for me maybe because I loved the dreamy ideas of snow and the Christmas trees but it was the feeling of freedom and inclusion that made it my home Before this I lived in Argentina in Morocco Tunisia and I toured many countries with my art projects I m a bit of a nomad let s say Q Can you tell me a little bit about yourself A Well I m not good at talking about myself but I try to do so in my work in my art in theatre film and performance I am a multidisciplinary artist I started as an actor then as a director for theatre and film With time I grew a passion for writing as well as performance and conceptual art I think I have this urge to share my story my emotions and my visions of this world with others And I think the more I live in this roller coaster of life the more expressive I get about my memories about my perspective Maybe I want to contribute to making this planet a better place I always loved painting since I was a baby because it s a solitary momentum Many times in my life I had people pushing me to do painting as a professional Even in theater school my professors were always pushing me towards that but for me that s really a personal hobby I do generally for myself maybe more as a secret garden and not a job I also enjoy writing a lot I love nature and photography as well In the end I articulate myself around the arts Q Do you have a particular area in the performing arts world that you d gravitate the most to A I started to gravitate towards theater because that s the thing that took me out of my shell When I started acting I was a very shy kid Because of my multicultural background we traveled a lot and that slowly made me close off and raise walls between me and others I don t have memories of a place where I wasn t the one bullied Theater somehow gave me a confident voice and made me feel like this strong person on stage by portraying other

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18 n THE My career was juggling between awards and censorship I always had a social consciousness characters In the beginning I studied literature but then I quickly found myself getting depressed because when you say yes to what people are expecting from you you just forget about your own expectations towards yourself and that creates a big hole So I rebelled and started doing theatre around my 20 s with the Tunisian National Theatre I started professionally with an experimental play which was fun because we had acting melodrama and a lot about politics I love that it was censored in the beginning twice From then I decided to study theater and I went to Morocco for that I can say that my passion for theatre made me study and wear different hatsactor director writer scenographer I wanted to do it all because theatre was my home Then I slowly grew passionate about making my own plays because I wanted to be capable of changing the reality and to give a voice to many silenced taboos and prejudiced minorities That s how I started making plays about womens condition in the Arab world for example I even started my own theatre company and produced a few plays and performances My career was juggling between awards and censorship I always had a social consciousness that s why I made educative radio spots about sexual education and some were made into short films and short plays When I moved to Buenos Aires I started experimenting and I got into performance art while finishing my master s degree in Performing Arts Quite frankly I ve always loved to mix genres and disciplines and to use the camera where you are not supposed to I think it s because performance art gave me this shield of freedom to do whatever I wanted and it was good especially when I went to Argentina as I

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n 19 EATRE had an identity crisis and I was looking for my voice I ve even had some of my plays censored in Morocco and I was struggling with accepting it so that s why I can confidently tell you I am a rebel I don t accept no for an answer and I will fight for my dreams and convictions But there are times in life when you just decide not to take the battle anymore because you feel it s not about you it s about who you are It s not about what you do but about what you represent as a person and you have to acknowledge that you can t fix someone else s idea about you In my art studies I wasn t interested in knowing who did what and why To be honest and even when my professors would exercise their opinions I d be like No I m not interested I just had to find a technique interesting enough that I would want to try and experiment to understand my artistic voice at that time I was able to talk about subjects I wouldn t have spoken about before without using let s say velvet gloves So I felt like I got bold and so I started talking about gender sexuality freedom of speech and mainly the body as an anchor of identity as well as politics During that journey I started making my feature performative documentary about 30 Argentinian women I am putting the final touches on the postproduction and hoping to showcase it at festivals this year Femenino Singular is a feature film about the vulnerability and fragility of the feminine identity It s about enhancing the small details that make each woman so unique This isn t about just women talking about themselves it s more of me following them in their crisis or quests It s an ethnographical and experimental and constructed documentary I loved directing theater but I also enjoy directing movies There s a clear difference between directing theater and directing movies because the memory of theater is short so theater is basically equal to amnesia I dedicated more than ten years of my life to theater and when people used to have opportunities for television to make money I would say no because I wanna make theater Because theatre is culture and theatre is value but then when I moved away somehow my name started to disappear slowly and I wasn t able to start again where I left off For example in Argentina I wasn t able to do theater the way I wanted to Now it s been like three and a half years or four years that I am in Canada and I am still struggling to just have a space to do what I want I feel like nobody knows me nobody knows my work and if you show your work from other countries it s just not recognized It almost becomes as if you just did nothing because it doesn t matter here I have tried a few times to get involved with projects but there is a lot of resistance and I am constantly feeling like I m fighting against the wall So I was like Is it worth restarting the engine from zero and trying another 10 years of my life I felt it s not However there is a difference between directing in theatre and film The specificity of these two disciplines like in theater once you open the curtains it doesn t stop so there is a temple where you create this connection with the audience with the story Now that s not the case with cinema you are not making the movie that starts with ABCD no You start according to your location according to your program and there is the camera that makes the cut for you so as a director or filmmaker my vision goes from the within camera Q Yeah I absolutely agree with that I have also done plays and acted in a few short films with some of my friends so I understand that there s a difference in the structure of both crafts A Yes Also I have been doing a lot of streaming recently especially when the pandemic hit I started consuming a lot of worldwide productions from places where the narration and the images are different productions that are Chinese Korean Japanese Indian and African Watching productions from places where I don t know either the actors or the poetry of the language and I just started educating my eyes to watch differently to see different emotions different colors and narrations I start watching it for the story and found myself forgetting that it s a movie

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s 20 It s like it s a stretch game and you are not sure if you re going to win And to be honest I don t want to belong to anything Q It was definitely a year of Netflix A Not only that I started maybe with YouTube you know but it s an alternative of putting your work out there outside of the festival s circuits I used to go to a lot of festivals but I slowly recognized there are these voices in the festivals that get films placed into this box of Let s please everybody and follow the current trends I just don t agree with that I think if there s something wrong we need to talk about it and address it even if it isn t what s trending at the moment Q Yeah I agree and I was actually having this conversation the other day because we were watching Hawkeye I don t know if you re watching it as well But we got into the topic of how everything now is so like female empowerment And although I think that s a great thing it s becoming a little too saturated now where every show and movie has to do it I feel like now it s kind of getting to a sense where it needs to be included just like how people from the LGBTQ community need to be included Don t get me wrong it s not a bad thing but I think the way it s being done might not be the right way A I know but at least it s out there It s as if they are saying like I am white I am male I am heterosexual I am rich So now let them have their moment to play you know Now it s everybody else s turn Also I feel like the world is suffering from this sense of extremism that keeps getting higher and stronger in everything It s like it s a stretch game and you are not sure if you re going to win I feel like the more voices we give and we get even if the way isn t the best it s a start somehow Q Okay I kind of have to disagree a little bit because I think it s becoming more of a disservice rather than something useful Because now it kind of seems like they re just ticking boxes we need to have a gay character a minority character a feminist etc So in a way I feel like it kind of defeats the purpose because yes these characters are being shown in mainstream media but most of the time they are simply caricatures or stereotypes of these populations A I see that like in auditioning I see a lot of it During this past year of pandemic I ve been auditioning as an actor mainly online and that s what I see in the major of the parts and breakdowns It was like it s always this white character without any Non English Accent So I struggled and in every audition it would take more struggle with this American accent I tried and then I was like No I don t have it Even though English comes in different accents For example when I take a walk in Toronto or Ottawa I don t hear exclusively people talking in that American accent It doesn t really represent what I see and hear in the streets Real life is composed of so many accents and I hear so many languages too So it s not really representative of Canada and I am sure it s not representative of the USA because these two countries are built on immigration Then the weight of this makes me feel that if we are not inside the mold being an outsider is going to be difficult especially as an artist because then you are trying to fit into something and there will always be these small communities that will say No you re not a part of this you re not a part of that And to be honest I don t want to belong to anything I just want to be That s when the adventure starts Q Yeah I agree And that actually reminded me I was watching an episode of I don t know if you watch The View but there was this Latina actress who was going to get hired for a Netflix series or movie but they specifically wanted a Latina to play a housemaid and stated that she needs to have a strong Hispanic

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i accent So she exposed the directors by saying you know this is very offensive That s why I was saying earlier that while they are representing minorities you re getting a role but it comes at a cost So is it worth being represented or not A I have had that in my career before and I think this is not only happening in western cultures now but also something that s started like a contamination you know it s happening around the world Another example was in North Africa where I faced racism When I went to Morocco I really suffered from extreme bullying through all my university years and even in my career in Tunisia and the same in Argentina Systemic racism isn t only a taboo in North America it has different forms and different levels Q Of course I m sorry you went through that But now do you have any current projects at the moment A Yes right now I have two plays Alienation and The Mirror s Child I m going to be editing it as part of an Anthology for Change and it s organized and curated by Selene an awardwinning writer from the UK and it s in support of the missing and murdered indigenous women All the profits will go to associations like the National Indigenous Women s Resource Center or the Native Women s Association of Canada On another hand during the lockdown I started writing comedy queer scripts I am back to fiction let s say and I am really enjoying writing in a new style for me it s exciting to tell sad stories with a smile But the big baby of this year will be my first documentary Feminino Singular where I articulate 30 different Argentinian unique identities in front of the camera That s as a creative but as a curator and art director you can discover Resist Film Festival that was born last year and it s a festival to promote artists or topics about activism social justice class environment you name it This festival is somehow a way of me giving back I wanted to give back to 21 the arts to the young community somehow I wanted to be that small stone to help someone else to have their work be promoted Q Where can our audience see your work A You can know more about my projects on my website www dorianshine com or on social media with my name Dorian Shine For the festival it has its own platform at www resistfilmfestival com and it s active on Instagram too I have two editions online that are free for you to watch The first edition of 2020 is a one minute film and last year s edition is up to three minutes Each year has around 30 short films from all over the I WANT TO LEAVE THE EARTH BETTER THAN I FOUND IT THAT S IT world In these movies you can find dance you can find performances you can find experimental poetry fiction documentaries so it s all genres My hope is to be able to take it outside of the streaming to make a physical event that is hard to organize I was in the process to do the second edition like that but with the pandemic it was impossible That s why I started looking around me checking if my network abroad and the people or the artists are interested to participate in making the event in a theatre venue So my vision for the third edition would be to have projects that are up to 15 minutes and it will be articulated around queer creators and films Q Okay so now what is your takeaway message What are you hoping to do with your work A I want to leave the earth better than I found it That s mainly it to be honest I just want my voice to be heard strangely since I was a kid I ve always had a point of view about things more than others and maybe because my voice has been silenced enough that I grew up opinionated and stubborn Q Okay so what would you say is one way to keep arts alive and raise awareness A Oh I think the Academy should shut up

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i 23 h for a moment The Academy should shut up I feel that there is a lot of violence done to artists by the Academy There is a lot of violence towards artists because they re trying to make business they are trying to form critics and they re trying to form a knowit all about art but art is not about that Art is about creating and being vulnerable and that means you need to have a lot of courage What you re expressing as an artist is way more important than an art degree It s way more important than a check more important than fitting into a box of either being a minority or being white You are putting yourself out there naked and fragile So I would say it s important for the arts that artists live the Academy should die a little bit Q Beautifully said Okay so now we re going to do a gunshot round I m going to ask you a list of questions and you need to tell me the first thing that comes to mind A Okay Alright I m afraid Okay Q Favorite color A Ugh I was just thinking about that yesterday It s blue and gold Q Favorite movie A Agora A historical film set in Roman Egypt concerning a slave who turns to the rising tide of Christianity in the hope of pursuing freedom while falling in love with his mistress the philosophy and mathematics professor Hypatia of Alexandria It s my favorite movie of all time I feel that it really represents my feelings and concerns Q Favorite song A Favorite song I don t have one I have many Let me think because I hear in five languages so it s hard to pick one But I am an old soul Oh I Found my Love in Portofino by Dalida but I didn t find my love in there Q Favorite book A It used to be The Alchemist because he tells the story of a guy in Tangier which is my city But then Nawal El Saadawi published God Dies by the Nile I like her plume or feather Q Favorite place in the world A I went to Isla Grande in Brazil and I met the universe It was a magical encounter with nature for me I loved it We were on a corner of the island where we were totally alone and that s why I liked it I was feeling like I could grab the stars and I remember I told myself Maybe this is the problem That our stars are not lit in the sky anymore they are in the buildings that s the reason

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G 27 The exhibition takes us through the birth of modern arts in Greece at the end of the 19th century built on Byzantine and Orthodox influences in Greece The museum is located in the heart of Paris in the first arrondissement in the Champs lys es It is worth visiting the museum during the morning when the crowds are a little bit smaller The whole complex is composed of buildings that cover 60 600 square meters of surface therefore it is worth pre planning the exhibitions which you are interested in visiting before coming On every first Saturday of the month between 6 PM to 9 45 PM the entrance is free In order to avoid waiting in long lines it is worth booking the ticket online The number of art pieces in the Louvre reaches 300 000 all of which were produced anywhere from the earliest times to 19th century The exhibitions are divided into eight sections Art of Ancient Egypt Middle East Ancient Greece and Rome Art of Islam as well as Painting Sculpture Artistic Crafts and Drawing and Graphics Except from the masterpieces such as the Hammurabi code Nike of Samothrace Venus of Milo marble sculptures of Michelangelo and Horses of Marly we have famous paintings dated back from medieval times to the first half of 19th century France is the most represented boasting paintings such as Freedom Leading the People to the Barricades by Eug ne Delacroix The biggest masterpiece is Mona Lisa which is hidden behind armored glass and some temporary exhibitions Starting September 30th 2021 until February 7th 2022 we can enjoy the exhibition ParisAthens Birth of Modern Greece 1675 1919 It is a celebration of the Greek Revolution of 1821 The exhibition points to the relations between Greece and Europe but it particularly focuses on the connection between the two capitals Paris and Athens The historic period covered in the museum is mostly the 17th century when the Greek independence war took place and Athens was announced as the capital of Greece In 1834 a new cultural identity and therefore voice in arts and culture was being formed taking from both German and French neoclassicism The knowledge about the past of Greece was marked by the creation of places like the French School of Athens in 1846 In the exhibition we can admire archeological findings of Delos Delphi or Acropolis and rediscover colorful Greece The exhibition takes us through the birth of modern arts in Greece at the end of the 19th century built on Byzantine and Orthodox influences in Greece

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Professor Marnik Baert Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp Dant Dan el s work could be described as lyrical or organic abstract It has a certain warmth and depth to it that touches the observer and grips them at their very core His work is a great example of emotional abstraction With his own variety of specific techniques he transports his feelings and creates an image that combines dark memories of his past with experiences of the present as well as soft and warm visions of the future Occasionally these visions blend together and greater thought provoking dynamics emerge Like Rothko Dant Dan el s monumental works take his audience into the personal world of the artist a world in which we meet the survivor of abuse who fights his trauma the young dynamic warrior who stands up to his encounters with discrimination and at the same time they meet the emotional young dandy who seeks his way out of the dark Dant Dan el the artist behind Atelier D d is a multiracial painter and writer based in Europe Coming from an artistic family he was enrolled in art classes and in art school from an early age He had his first solo exhibition at the age of thirteen but due to trauma stopped painting completely four years later Instead he turned to writing essays short fiction poetry and columns for European and American magazines and anthologies which were honored with several literary awards In 2021 he started painting and creating artworks again to process his childhood trauma and PTSD as well as his experiences with racism and loss https www instagram com dan_dan_paints

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AKA ATE LIER DEDE I m speaking from the inside Dant Dan el is a multiracial painter writer from Europe The young dynamic warrior who stands up to his encounters with discrimination and at the same time they meet the emotional young dandy who seeks his way out of the dark D she wanted me to become a painter I took art classes until I was 16 and had my first solo exhibition when I was 13 but then I stopped completely four years later because of trauma due to Q Could you state your name sexual and mental abuse in my please childhood and early teenage A Hello I m Dant Dany l I am years and I couldn t create 36 and I am the artist behind anymore as I was dealing with Atelier D d panic attacks self harming Q Where do you come from tendencies as well as an eating A I am French Creole and disorder Actually it was only a Brazilian mixed with pretty much couple of months ago in 2021 everything under the sun but I ve when I got up one night and been living in Germany for quite a started painting again after so few years now many years Q Could you tell me a little bit Q Why do you think that about yourself happened A I was enrolled in an art class A I seriously have no idea For all very early in my life I come from those years I ve never missed an artistic family and I got into art painting at all and I really thought classes when I was only five years that I was done with art I never old which was quite early but it picked up a brush or anything and was important to my mother as all of a sudden I ve had this urge again to create I even dreamed a couple of times that I would paint which was so weird to me and then one night I just got up and started painting again and now I paint pretty much all the time and it is a part of my life again as if it was never gone Q What did you do during that time when you had a break from painting A When I was fifteen or sixteen I started to write on the side so after I stopped painting I became a writer I wrote essays and columns and short fiction a lot of content for European and German magazines and anthologies In that period writing became a tool that I still could use to express myself For many years I wrote a lot and even was honored with a few literature awards for my writing But then something totally unexpected occurred I got sick and almost died That was when I stopped writing Lately I have started to write a little bit on the side again but it is complicated as I wrote under a different name it feels like that s not me anymore and I m not sure if I will really start to publish again even though that thought crosses my mind now and then I sometimes catch myself taking notes for short stories or essays again Q What was the first painting you ve created after your hiatus Could you tell me a little bit about it A I did a piece that is called I m speaking from the inside When I was younger my style was completely figurative and submerged in realism and this has changed completely Now all I do is abstract and minimalism with a reduced palette It was very spontaneous when I started painting again I didn t have much paint at home and no other utensils I remember that I wanted to work with yellow but I had none and then I came up with this loud salmon color and I didn t like it at all I started working shapes into it and I still felt like Oh this

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NEW A completely new situation for me It was all about texture surfaces and structures and suddenly I understood it was about me and my own story about the physical aspect of the abuse I ve been through as a kid looks awful Then I added a transparent layer of gold and it got worse and worse I was like What the hell am I doing here But then I reached deep inside of me and tried to understand what that feeling was that I was feeling and I started to mix some other colors that I had Prussian blue a bit of dark grey and some diluted black and started to work on something completely different something organic that really it was good till it wasn t maps of tomorrow made me feel like it explained a part of me that I was in touch within that moment It was all about texture surfaces and structures and suddenly I understood it was about me and my own story about the physical aspect of the abuse I ve been through as a kid That was a completely new situation for me because before I never painted anything about myself Before I painted things that I would see and now that changed to painting things that I feel Q That s a big shift where is that coming from A I think that I came to a point where I didn t have any other choice anymore but to process my own experiences and my feelings For some reason it feels like before I made just pretty paintings decoration if you will I made paintings that people would like to see and that was my only goal I wanted to make artworks that would sell and to paint pieces that people would give attention to and now I only want to make artworks that make me feel something real and that make me happy Q What are your daily inspirations since you started to paint every day again A Most of my inspirations come from within me they are based on my own experiences My work often is about the abuse but also my experience with racism in Germany But about things that give me joy as well like traveling and getting in touch with people I try to combine all those impressions It s a little bit like writing a diary Before I always planned every piece that I would paint Everything was laid out Artist Image F E E L NOW I WANT THINGS THAT MAKE ME FEEL SOME THING REAL

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before I would even start and now it s more like I just start and don t really even know where I am going with what I am doing Music has a very strong influence on my work as well It s often so that I start painting and I have a feeling or subject that I want to process or get out of me and then I choose something that gets along with that feeling When I find something that fits I will listen to that song over and over again while I paint Sometimes I play a song on repeat for hours until that piece of music almost becomes part of the artwork and if you look closely you ll see that my titles often have some influence from the music that I was listening to while I was working on it Q What kind of music do you usually choose From opera to rock music from the 80s hip hop some pop and lounge as well everything really Whatever fits the emotion in that moment It is almost like the painting chooses the song itself Q What emotions are you experiencing during the process The last couple of months there is a subject of loss My mom died not too long ago and I went through a really bad breakup earlier this year So things like that are going through my work a lot lately I also work on a lot of things that process ancestral stuff For example there is an ongoing cycle Maps Of Tomorrow I m working on This is a subject that is very dear and important to me because it basically tells the story of my enslaved ancestors who were taken from Africa to Louisiana to Brazil to Martinique These pieces have to be seen as topographic maps They are literally like maps of an unknown future and unknown land because those people had no idea where they were taken or if they would survive the transport after they were sold and bought and kidnapped Those landmasses and bodies of water and coastlines were totally foreign to them and in my imagination for them those places were inhabited with ghosts and spirits and devils All these pieces are very cloudy and full of organic and strange shapes I want people to see and feel whatever they feel and see in my work for them to identify with it It s a bit strange for me when someone comes up to me and says Oh my God this looks so beautiful and the piece is about something really terrible in my life but then again I m very happy that someone can see beauty in something that stems from my personal darkness When you look at a painting a part of it belongs to you and your own feelings and so I would like people to have that moment When people ask mewhat is it about of course I tell them but otherwise they should just feel free to expose themselves while they explore my work The other day someone left a comment about how he doesn t understand much about art but he loved the melancholic beauty of my piece Cry Me A River and I told him that one doesn t really have to understand art as long as it makes him feel something and as long as it makes him happy Q You said that recently you ve been working a little bit about your ancestors What sort of message are you trying to send through your work A The thing is that this subject is not only the summary of the history of my ancestors but it s also a critic towards the world we re living in right now because right now there are more people enslaved than there were UNKNOWN FUTURE ever before most of them being women and children It is everywhere No matter if we look at the American prison system where over 60 percent of the inmates are Afro Americans even though only about 14 percent of the American population is black or if we look at other countries where they literally still sell African refugees into slavery and nobody speaks about it or if we look at women being sold into prostitution or child labor in third world countries I think my message is that I want to process my own history but I also want to criticize the situation we are living in I want people to look at what s going on in the world There s also a lot of beauty a lot of wonderful things but we have to speak about the terrible things too in order to truly experience the beauty of this world Q Speaking of the terrible state of the world right now how did the global pandemic influence your work A I was very lonely during that time because here in Germany there was this long lockdown that lasted for months and I had not much contact with my relatives and everyone was social distancing You couldn t visit people anymore and I could really feel how it influenced my mental health negatively and I think that s also the reason why I started painting again I did a lot of different things at that time I started to restore a chandelier and a commode and really enjoyed it I was literally scrubbing every little piece of my house as I was trying to keep myself busy I read a lot too but even though I was productive the whole time I felt a feeling of emptiness I could never pinpoint what that feeling was and then I started painting again and that feeling of emptiness finally started to disappear Now painting makes me happy When I was younger it didn t make me happy it just satisfied me When I was a kid I never wanted to be an artist When I stopped painting I realized that this was a plan that wasn t my own It was made for me by my mother and my art teachers but now I really paint because I want to paint I create because I want to create and I think that is the reason why it feels so different now Q Do you feel like now you developed your own style A Yes absolutely Because before I just studied what I had to learn in order to make those decorative and easy consumable paintings But now that my style shifted so much I have no possibility to rely on what I learned I have to come up with new techniques and new ways to paint and it s a completely brandnew thing it s not like falling back into what I did before I have to discover it all over again on my own and I really love that feeling Q You finally found your voicedo you feel now that you know where you want to go with your art A I m not really 100 sure yet I get a lot of criticism from my friends and my family they say that I don t paint the way I used to do Of course I don t paint the same

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way because I m not that person anymore and it makes no sense for me to paint the same stuff that I painted 20 years ago I want to create stuff that explains me and my perspective I want to make art for today if possible for tomorrow So I m not sure yet where I want to go with my art but it for sure isn t backwards Q Do you remember your first piece of art A Yes I remember that very well I was about four years old and I would take pieces of paper and glue them all together to have a huge sheet of paper Back then I was really into lizards and dragons So I drew a lot of crocodile people a mixture of reptiles and knights and there were a lot of armors and swords and things like that Q Can you also tell me a little bit about your worst experience in the art world A My worst experience is that right now I try to make contacts and I feel that a lot of people for example galleries and magazines are very hesitant to work with me They say oh you only work for five months now come back in a year or two or you don t have enough experience I feel like a lot of people don t take me seriously because I just started painting again and it is really weird when people say I really love your work but come back in two years There s a series that is called Scar Tissue I literally had people write to me that I should put a content warning on my Instagram because it upsets them that I put work about abuse out there I was really baffled that somebody tells me that I cannot work or show work that is about my own experiences There s a lot of very nice things that happen too for example an artist that I like a lot Dominique Garraud told me that she always can tell when a painting is done by me and that she doesn t even have to look at the name That was the most beautiful compliment because it shows me that I found a way to transport my personality into my artworks Q What would you say is your signature what is your style Probably organic abstract In most of the pieces there s this organic structure and organic part you always see Things that look like tissue bones and roots almost like under a microscope That comes back to the subject of abuse because a lot of it is about my body and about what happened to my body and about owning it now as well being at home in this body of mine Q What motivates you morenegative messages or positive messages A To be honest neither because I really love to be in touch with people but their opinion about my art doesn t influence what I do When somebody supports me it really makes me happy but I don t do it for the support I do it for myself for my mental health and my well being Q What are your greatest achievements A I just started working again recently but I was chosen for an online exhibition with a piece that I like a lot myself It is also another breakup piece and it s just very intimate and they loved it It makes me happy that there are magazines that care about my work and want to collaborate with me and I slowly start to build this little community of people who come to my Instagram on a daily basis to see if I have something new That really is something that I see as an achievement and of Top thifar don t you ever think you are irreplaceable Bottom in my veins there you are maps of tomorrow

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You are all I need maps of tommorow course I really try now to find a new gallery to represent me because both galleries that I worked with when I was a teenager are gone now Q What are your hopes What would you like to achieve with your art now A That is a tough question A lot of people who start doing art have the goal to be featured in big magazines and they want to live off of painting and there s a lot of people now that even form the style of painting towards certain galleries because they know that this gallery will take them when they paint a certain way That is not on my mind at all I just feel this immense need to create I want to see what will happen Of course I want to start to exhibit again and show my work and to tell people about my work but I have no idea where I really want to go with it right now I really just want to see what my art does to people when they get in touch with it Q Are you seeking that interaction with the audience A I love to interact with people on social media but sometimes I m a bit confused about the interactions For example there are so many people who send messages about my sexualitywho literally demand to know what my sexuality is and I m like why is that someone s concern And some people just assume things I lately had a woman who wrote to me that she thinks that I m gay because my bio states that I like cake and dogs And as we know only gay people like cake and dogs In general when somebody writes to me I m NEED to CREATE

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always there to interact and also I m happy when other people ask me how I do something what s the technique or what materials I use There s a lot of artists who don t want to talk about that process because they re afraid that somebody steals something from them I understand that very well because if you develop your style you develop your technique and of course you want to protect it but in general I m super open to talk about the process In one way I m a very private and shy person so I rather keep things to myself but then again I d really like to be in contact so I guess it always depends on how I feel that day Q Do you have a favorite piece from your collection that you would say that represents you as an artist and you as a person A Yes aside from the Maps Of Tomorrow there s also one piece that s called Thifar I It s also a cycle that I work on about loss and about filling that void and filling that space that opens up once you lose something or someone It s about finding something that makes you happy again and finding something that gives you meaning again The first one is my favorite and it s also about a breakup once more It is about letting go of that beautiful energy I had with that person About letting go of plans and about softening the edge and about finding something inside of myself to replace that feeling of being so close to someone So close that the person even during sleep wouldn t let go of my hand and now we are strangers again Sometimes I feel a bit uneasy about working with the subject of loss and breakups so much But then again I feel like it is a valid subject I mean it is part of my story right now that I went through a painful breakup and that influenced my work This experience will shape me as a person and it has an influence now that I am going through it and it will have an influence on my future work and on my perspectives on things Q What would you say is the way for artists and art to keep it alive and raise awareness A First of all the problem is that people are very quick to rebuild everything but art There s never money for art there s never enough attention for art Even so art is so important for everyone If you take it out in every formal way people would go insane but they re not even aware of it Recently I was asked if I have some advice for other people who start to paint and to create and my only advice is just to do it don t think too much about it and just try things and see what makes you happy There s a lot of competition going on A lot of people feel like the pool is very small and we have to fight to be noticed but I don t agree with that at all If you have your own style if you do your own thing there s no need to push other people to the side because you still get your spotlight for your own style and I think it s very important to support other artists That said one thing I really would love to see would be more artists of African and Latino descent as well as Arab and Asian artists getting opportunities to show their talent to show their vision and to get the spotlight they deserve We are many and we have stories to tell and beauty to share If you have the chance to support an artist of color please do Q What s your favorite color A My favorite color is purple I also loved red a lot and I also love black a lot but since I was a small kid I always loved purple I love every shade of purple from eggplant to fresh bruises I mean there s a lot of colors that I like when I see them and I think oh that s pretty but when I see a shade of purple that really resonates with me Q Favorite movie A I don t have many favorite things I read a lot and I love to read but if you would ask me what s my favorite book I would not be able to tell you because I read something and then I m obsessed with that book for months and in that moment that s my favorite book but then I find another book that that will be in that moment my favorite book And maybe I come back in two years and it will be my favorite book again I love Basic Instinct though the aesthetic of the 90s and the way Sharon Stone portrays Catherine Tramell someone who s at the same time very cold but also very passionate I always could identify with this a lot because in one way I m a very passionate and sensual man and I m a very warm hearted person but I m also very shy and holding back often so I guess that s why liked it

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36 TIK TOK AND ART Aparna Prabhakar For digital and visual artists TikTok provides a means of establishing community and reaching wider audiences Over the course of the pandemic visual artists have been forced to change their platforms to be almost completely virtual As a result one of the biggest barriers that artists have faced is a lack of accessibility patrons are unable to frequent their favorite artists galleries and exhibitions In March of 2020 the art world experienced a huge shift over to TikTok Artists began to go viral for sharing videos of their art processes and pieces Storytime videos also began to gain popularity artists were able to show their art and overlay voiceovers of themselves telling stories Almost two years later visual artists continue to be deeply impacted by TikTok s algorithms Another aspect of the art world that has been greatly impacted by the popularization of TikTok is the world of From dancing to puppies to paintmixing to bricklaying TikTok has it all The video sharing app rose to popularity shortly after its launch in 2016 Since then it has established itself as a groundbreaking app constantly spurring innovation and creation It has also tremendously impacted the global art community From digital artists to performing artists and everything in between TikTok has redefined art and broken down stereotypical artistic barriers dance Dance has been completely redefined thanks to the app because anybody can create dances with the potential to go viral Rather than professional dancers performing complex contemporary choreography viral dance videos have evolved to feature ordinary people performing much simpler choreography thereby expanding access to the world of dance Many TikTok stars have gained popularity due to their expertise with these types of dances some notable names include Charli D Amelio Addison Rae and Noah Beck TikTok ensures that creators do not need formal dance training in order to go viral following trends with simpler more addictive choreography is more than enough to enthrall audiences Singers and songwriters have also been incredibly impacted by TikTok Songs are able to go viral and reach large numbers of people with ease The app has also led to the release of

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37 REVOL many new songs When songwriters post videos of themselves singing parts of original songs their followers often comment and ask for full versions of the song Audiences can then follow along with the singer s journey as the song is produced and released One example of this can be seen in singersongwriter Clinton Kane When he first uploaded a video of himself singing a verse of an original song he did not expect it to go viral Within hours his followers were begging him for more A few months later Kane released I GUESS I M IN LOVE which went viral immediately The song was even picked up and used by popular dating show Love Island In this way TikTok fosters the careers of up and coming artists Not only has TikTok furthered the careers of artists across the globe but it has also resulted in the formation of collaborative coalitions Accounts such as Harmony House harmonyhouse consist of various creators coming together to practice their crafts and learn from each other These coalitions exist for different types of crafts from dance to music to visual art The result of collaboratives such as Harmony House is a mix of different styles of art that audiences can learn from All in all TikTok has truly revolutionized the art world It has changed the global art community s outlook on the definition of art and it works to actively break down the stereotypes that put art in a box TikTok is paving a path for the future of digital media and it proves that art is subjective and ever changing TikTok has truly revolutionized the art world It has changed the global art community s outlook on the definition of art and it works to actively break down the stereotypes that put art in a box UTION

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Thus wide international support networks helped the museum to design and produce the core exhibition seen now There have been countless historical accounts regarding the traumatic events the Jewish community has endured POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews located in Warsaw Poland tells the struggles of the Jewish community in Poland POLIN MUSUEM 40 The museum specifically focuses on how the Holocaust began and impacted this community it paints a picture of some of the most horrible events in human history It demonstrates the remnants of how torture isolation and discrimination can ultimately destroy a person The POLIN museum originated at the Association of the Jewish Historical Institute of Poland and increasingly gathered extensive approval from both Poland as well as around the world On January 25th 2005 the initiative of then Mayor of Warsaw Lech Kaczy ski formally established the museum as a public private partnership of the Association the City of Warsaw the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage as well Having the funds raised from private individuals throughout the years including foundations from the United States the United Kingdom Germany and Poland the project of a future museum became a possibility Thus wide international support networks helped the museum to design and produce the core exhibition seen now PL O

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The POLIN museum can be described as a modern institution of culture it is a historical museum that offers the thousand years of Jewish lifestyle within the Polish territory Having the engagement of hundreds of people made the establishment of POLIN a possibility However Gra yna Pawlak was the prime mover behind the project and also its first coordinator and Jerzy Halbersztadt who managed the museum from 1999 2011 and became the Museum Director from 2006 2011 were also crucial components of its creation Piotr Wi licki also served an important role and was responsible for the production and design of the core exhibition from 2011 and beyond The museum has also been noted as a place for meeting and discussing among individuals who wish to explore both the past and present Jewish culture including those who would like to draw conclusions for the future based on the Polish Jewish history as well as those who are ready to understand the stereotypes and oppose xenophobia and nationalistic prejudices that are still an imminent threat in today s society The aim of the POLIN museum has always been to promote the ideas of openness tolerance and truth in order to ensure not only a mutual understanding but a respect among Poles and Jews alike After visiting the POLIN museum one has the opportunity to truly experience the slow yet consistent transgression of hatred and discrimination The Core Exhibition is an expedition through 1 000 years of the history of Polish Jews from the Middle Ages until today The exhibit makes an attempt at explaining how the Jews came to Poland and how Poland became the center of the Jewish Diaspora not to mention the home of the largest Jewish community in the world Moreover the exhibition prides itself in demonstrating how it ceased its tragic past and the efforts consistently being made in order to revive Jewish life in Poland The exhibition has been structured in a way that takes its visitors on an incredibly detailed journey into the past present and hopefully the future of the Polish Jewish community L I N https polin pl sites default files pictures www_budynek_013 jpg 41

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44 KHALEQUZZAMAN SHIMUL Malibagh Chowdhuri Para Facebook k Zaman Shimul Md Khalequzzaman shimul Cell 8801912358600 e mail khalequzzamanshimul gmail com Born 1st January 1988 Dinajpur Bangladesh Education M F A 2013 PRINT MAKING VISVA BHARATI SANTINIKETAN KOLKATA WEST BENGAL Group Exhibition 2021 First International Triennial of small and exlibris Odessa Ukraine 2021 10th International Triennial of Graphic Art Bitola North Macedonia 2021 21th IP print Biennial Varna Bulgaria 2021 2020 Berger paint Bangladesh Art competition Organized Burger paint 2020 22nd Young Artists Art Exhibition under way at Shilpakala Academy Dhaka 2020 Kolkata Ink studio Residency Organize a pro Printmaker world premier international artist exhibition 2020 Hope and love Love and Hope Group Art exhibition organized by Studio 48 Dhaka 2019 23th National art exhibition organized by Bangladesh Shilpokala Academy Dhaka 2019 An open studio and group art exhibition titled Line of Ages organized by Cosmos Atelier 71 printmaking studio 2018 Young Artists Art Exhibition Bangladesh Shilpokala Academy Dhaka 2018 Open Art studio HUMANSCAPE a group art exhibition organized by studio 48 Dhaka 2018 APOSTROPHE a group art exhibition organized by shunno art space Alliance Fran oise de Dhaka About the Grenade At the presentation we people are spending too much of our lives risking everything anything can happen to us at any time A grenade is a massively powerful weapon that can destroy everything within a nanosecond But If we want to think from a different angle we can use the grenade for cultivating fragrant flowers which are very innocent and beautiful elements in the world I try to plant flowers in the grenade shell a dangerous and powerful object In this print I use the shell as a pot The text is a symbol of the text which is the reflection of an inner human expression The bird is a symbol of freedom Birds have no sense of identifying the power of a grenade she just found shelter in this grenade Hi I am Md Khalequzzaman Shimul from Bangladesh I completed my MFA in Shantiniketan Kolkata India My department was printmaking I did this work in 2020 The media was woodcut In this artwork I have tried to focus on the real situation of our present day world A grenade is a powerful weapon that can destroy anything within a nanosecond Every day a vast number of people lose their lives through the power of grenades In my print I use an unborn baby on the grenade as a symbol for the huge number of babies who have not seen the beauty of the earth because of a political game As a result a lot of babies are dying in their mothers wombs

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52 SASHA NESCHASTNOVA Moscow Instagram sasha neschastnova Website https www sashaneschastnova com My name is Sasha Neschastnova I m a contemporary artist At the moment I live and work in Moscow I was born in 1993 in the city of Voronezh I participate in various exhibitions and projects I have a degree in architecture My works are in private collections around the world I always talk about love and this is very important to understand when considering my work Through art I express basic feelings ideas and themes that are relevant and important to modern society War always begins with ourselves The three main principles that I use in my work are logic humor and emotion My main goal is to show everyday life something that concerns absolutely everyone in life Provocative and shocking art that reveals different aspects of life and evokes emotions in everyone I consider various topics such as the relationship between men and women love everyday life women in different life situations but also I designate the absurdity of many life moments and partly ridicule them I consider everyday life especially the position of women and men in their relationships the refutation of established stereotypes the modern world and its main aspects as the main influence on people s lives I reject as much as possible any stereotypes of society in my work It s like a riot on a ship we don t talk about it but we always think about it

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54 SHELINA KHIMJI Dar es Salaam Instagram shelinak Shelina Khimji is an award winning Tanzanian born artist and a qualified accountant as well as a self taught artist who has been drawn to art since her childhood Over a decade long career she has participated in World Art Dubai 2020 and was featured in The National UAE and Art Lusso Magazine in Dubai While she was locked down in Dubai she was featured on CNN Style this artwork was submitted to a Dubai based Art Studio in 2020 as the studio had planned to turn lockdown art into a series of large public murals across the United Arab Emirates UAE At present she is participating in EA Art Biennale 2021 and in June 2021 she was featured in The Citizen Tanzania newspaper after having participated in Rotaract s Colours of Hope Exhibition She has been a two time finalist in the New York and Los Angeles Coffee Art Project a participant in the sketchbook project where her sketchbook toured USA and Canada as well as a regular participant in the EA Art Biennale to name a few Art has allowed me to dip my brush into my soul and paint away my fantasies The imaginary places and dreams that I express on the canvas permit me to lose myself and fulfill my inner longings by bringing them alive in a painting My art also combines challenging concepts that give me a sense of achievement when done Color is also my powerful symbolism as it reflects my happy persona and my ideal world imagery

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56 SONA SAHAKIAN The Hague Instagram sonyl_artartart7 Website www sonasahakian com Facebook sonasahakian Linkedin sona sahakian Pinterest sonasahakian Twitter s_sahakian8 Youtube Sona Sahakian Vimeo www vimeo com user48049198 Issuu www issuu com sonasahakian Sona Sahakian 1996 is a visual artist based in the Hague the Netherlands She graduated from the Department of Fine Arts at the Royal Academy of the Arts in The Hague Her works consist of paintings drawings collages photographs installations and films video art In recent years she has participated in various groups exhibitions and projects Her works are about the search for an inner experience of time where memories are made experienceable in the shape of fixation and transformation She strives for a fusion of past and present which creates a dynamic and timeless dimension The transience the cycle of human existence life death and rebirth plays an important role in this this transforms our reality and strengthens our human consciousness In her art she wants to stimulate people s imagination and sensory experiences in which the traces of the past are revived in the present which remains anchored in her memory and thus enriches her personal history In this way she wants to inspire people to make an inner journey by really feeling and discovering for themselves what the treasury of their existence is

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60 GABRIELLA AZZOPARDI Malta Instagram surreal_dusk_art Facebook surrealdusk Gabriella is a freelance visual artist with a portfolio of work varying from original paintings and drawings promotional photography graphic design and illustrations She has exhibited her work in collective and solo art exhibitions in Malta and recently in a collective exhibition in London Gabriella s main artistic style can be described as symbolic or surreal She has shown an interest in visual arts since childhood She developed her artistic and creative skills by experimenting with different painting and drawing techniques and materials practicing from still lives landscapes architecture and figure drawing always giving importance to detail She studied visual arts at the School of Art in Valletta Malta and continued her studies at the Emvin Cremona Art Design Center in Valletta obtaining a diploma in visual communication design Afterwards she furthered her studies in the history of art graphic design photography and digital photo manipulation 1 Visions From a Silent Thought This painting is a work dedicated to and inspired by the medieval city of Mdina in Malta In the painting the Baroque Cathedral of Mdina in the heart of the city instantly attracts the viewer and the face in the cloud draws more attention to it The city is in a surreal world protected by water the sky and nature After its hectic past of battles and challenges the silent city still stands majestically and in this painting as it deserves it rests regally safe and in silence 2 The Infinite Sequence of Thought Thought takes us to various places in our mind and helps us form ideas and opinions When in deep constructive thought the latter can feel infinite moving from one idea and vision to another In this painting I wanted to depict this the art of thought The bed in the painting represents rest and a safe place It is painted in a surreal quiet place at dusk showing the day is close to its end It shows an imaginary place I would want to be in without restrictions of time and rigid rules for routine giving a sense of calm The antique watch doesn t show time symbolizing the Infinite 3 Sorrow of a Perfect Connection This painting represents the parting of two artistic souls involved in music and art I chose the gramophone to represent music and the Baroque antique frame to represent painted art The choice of these two items reflects my general interest and love for history and antiques The red rose hovering symbolizing passion and love The stormy sky adds to the feeling of sadness in the painting Regarding style and technique this painting has elements of surrealism and symbolism with an optical illusion of a face blended in the clouds 4 Dream Entering Reality This painting represents the Dream the awaited opportunity in life making the biggest dreams a reality The old green door symbolizes the opportunity The window showing the night sky and crescent moon adds to the representation of the dream blending with reality The young moon is a symbol for a new journey 5 Melancholy This drawing is a self portrait In my opinion a self portrait has to show more than just the face of the artist it has to also deliver the artist s inner feeling to the viewer The skull gives the illusion that it forms part of the woman s head with dark spirits flowing out intertwined in the hair representing the persistent dark thoughts The left corner of the drawing shows a detail of a wing representing freedom freedom from melancholic moods from the past and the need to move forward to new experiences The right corner shows a detail of the moon representing silence and beauty Silence is essential to clear thoughts meditate and cleanse the mind

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66 SONA SAHAKIAN The Hague Instagram sonyl_artartart7 Website www sonasahakian com Facebook sonasahakian Linkedin sona sahakian Pinterest sonasahakian Twitter s_sahakian8 Youtube Sona Sahakian Vimeo www vimeo com user48049198 Issuu www issuu com sonasahakian Sona Sahakian 1996 is a visual artist based in the Hague the Netherlands She graduated from the Department of Fine Arts at the Royal Academy of the Arts in The Hague Her works consist of paintings drawings collages photographs installations and films video art In recent years she has participated in various groups exhibitions and projects Her works are about the search for an inner experience of time where memories are made experienceable in the shape of fixation and transformation She strives for a fusion of past and present which creates a dynamic and timeless dimension The transience the cycle of human existence life death and rebirth plays an important role in this this transforms our reality and strengthens our human consciousness In her art she wants to stimulate people s imagination and sensory experiences in which the traces of the past are revived in the present which remains anchored in her memory and thus enriches her personal history In this way she wants to inspire people to make an inner journey by really feeling and discovering for themselves what the treasury of their existence is

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67 The Quest On top of the mountain tall and mighty I feel like an eagle an eagle powerful I fly so high and free and without thinking Ah look at my heart it s so liberated Full of feelings free song and love I embrace the air with the wings of my soul The Timeless Dimension You feel as in heaven on the top of mountains The eternal present embraces your being Clouds floated as the past flowed Time and mind are inseparable And clouds and clouds that come and go Past and future are not real in the mountains The only real thing which is out of time Is the now there you feel you are real The Traces of the Past Thought flies to distant lands like a bird Images were yellowed like old years long ago Relatives and sweet faces stories of the past Fate floats like a film statues and images Sometimes they come as visions Although many have long since died It was as if I had a meeting with them Thoughts leave like water in a stream Images are like a frozen movie stop and go They leave a trail nothing can go without a trace The Encounter of the Inner World Slow frames come and go woven like an colorful carpet where allegories and symbols flow like floating pomegranate seeds Beauty poetry time and memory Are inextricably linked There is silence no words only images Come and go it makes you silent Like meditation inexplicable feelings that go through the heart go and go Everything Comes and Goes Everything that ever was all that ever is is not fixed come and go in constant motion elusive water and wind an illusion of heaven and earth where material forms and matter are washed away by the rain and burned by the sun everything that once was everything that is ever feels like breathing they come and go

Issue 8 January 2022

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