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Creative expressions
PAKISTANI ARTIST SAIRA Ansari cannot really explain how she got into the field of art. “It was happening forever until I decided to channel it. I think it channelled me right back,” says the 28-year-old.
- PUBLISHED: Sat 20 Aug 2011, 10:04 AM UPDATED: Tue 31 Oct 2023, 11:40 AM
She does not restrict herself to any medium or genre. “My drawings can be done within minutes, while some larger works could take days. I find my working space accordingly,” she adds.
Ansari would like to consider her work of art different, “but unfortunately that would make me sound like everyone else,” she notes.
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Her sources of inspiration are materials that she reads, text pieces and lyrics. But a lot of times it's usually the frame of mind she is in at a particular time.
Ansari prefers to study a wide variety of local and international artists. Some of her inspirations are Jean-Michel Basquiat, Jenny Holzer, Guerrilla Girls, Banksy, Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud.
“I think I'm forgetting to mention many over here. But lately, I've been looking at a lot of artists from the 70s onwards who primarily worked with themes of institutional critique, and experimental and lesser-known people from across the world,” she adds.
At what point is she satisfied with a piece? Ansari answers, “I don't know if I'm ever really satisfied, but I think I stop when I realise that the work has gotten where it should be. At that point I leave it. It's ridiculous but I hate returning to a piece to edit or overwork it.”
A futurist with a strong opinion, Ansari says that she almost never determines a concept. She actually works from a curatorial note. “Art Dubai has been a new and exciting experience for me because it afforded me a lot of artistic freedom. But I like the element of surprise in my own work. Which is probably also why I experiment a lot with my work,” she admits.
How did her work evolve? “I think it's absolutely necessary to pick one's brains and let it out, whether you're an artist, writer or musician. That is the one way I feel that my work has truly evolved as I have found newer and more unusual ways of saying what I want to,” she emphasises.
Speaking about illusions and three-dimensionality she says instantly: “Illusion? Perhaps not... as my drawings and texts have been very... flat. But I have worked a lot with installations and objects.”
To her, describing the process of producing a work of art sounds like a discussion from her MA degree classes! “It's very very different for everyone. For me, though, it's hard to produce work for something that I don't feel anything about. The process of artmaking itself is different and chaotic and I change direction according to the various decisions I take at the time of production,” she recalls.
Ansari firmly believes that art is expressive. “Of course it is. But it takes a really skilled person with the ability to break an image into abstraction. Those using it for shortcuts, or to hide their shortcomings, are not saying anything at all,” she asserts.
Ansari admits that she has insanely numerous interests in life but she could shortlist it to travelling, languages, writing, drawing, eating, talking and everything to do with animals.
What are her plans for the future? She plans to go wherever the tide takes her. “I wish there was some kind of a framework to my life but that hasn't worked out so well so far!” she notes.