10 Questions with Badria Shamsi

Badria Shamsi is an expressionist artist from UAE. She was born in 1971 in Abu Dhabi, where she lived her earlier life, and then moved to Dubai. Driven to create by passion for color and beauty, Badria keeps exploring the depth of movement and composition, different themes and directions, extending the range of her talent and bringing the perfect composition of vision and passion.
She is a self-taught artist who is greedy to learn, aiming for the best she can achieve and working by combining wet and dry mixed-media techniques. In her paintings, you will find a combination of spaces, strong colors, brightness, emotions, movement, lines, and happiness.
Badria expresses her ideas without the limits of classical painting because she always sees art as beauty in its essential and simplest forms. She uses colors to express her emotions, while the movement of strokes expresses the joy and excitement she feels while painting. By playing with her imagination and colors, she decided to direct her mind, soul, and being towards positivity, creativity, and life.

www.badriashamsi.com | @badria.s.art__

ARTIST STATEMENT

“This work is an interpretation of how I feel and understand emotions around me as well as how I react to them, and my intention is to portray the complexity of emotions from one person to another.

These paintings are from a series of paintings about emotions and different feelings in public gatherings. The inspiration for this series developed from the following quote: "Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, small minds discuss people." (Eleanor Roosevelt)

In each painting, there are different eyes: happy, laughing, careless, curious, boring, and many more. Therefore, it is interesting to define your mood today in a gathering and which eye is yours.” — Badria Shamsi

INTERVIEW

You are a self-taught artist. Could you tell us a little more about your background, and how did you begin making art?

I grew up with crayons in my hand; I remember that I used to draw all day. My desk at school was full of all sorts of drawings. I used to listen to the teacher while my hand was illustrating on the desk. During High school, I started taking courses on painting with oils, silk painting, and later painting with pastels. After I got married, I dedicated my time to painting with watercolours. Two years ago, I started using Acrylics and mixed media. 
I follow my feelings and emotions drive my style. I started realistic painting in my early days as an artist, but during the past years, skills developed, methods, and my style started forming. I no longer felt realistic painting delivered what I wanted to say or express. So slowly, I moved to the contemporary expressionist style, and as I see the path ahead of me, I am moving toward Abstract.

What do you wish you knew about contemporary art before you got started?

At the beginning of my career, I thought there was a "right" way to approach my art and my art business. I felt like all artists knew the way except for me. Now I know there is no right or wrong way. Just believe in yourself.
Second, When I started, I thought it was easy to get along with the art community, just enjoy painting and exhibiting, and will have the recognition. Unfortunately, it is not like that at all. The art business can be very competitive. Whether your art is beautiful or not, it is important to know how to present yourself and how to sell your name. Plus, learn marketing as well as art skills. You could have 1000 brilliant paintings in your studio, but they slowly become insignificant without exposure.
Third, the most important to an artist is the ability to keep going in the face of decline or people not liking the work. If I believe in my talent, I assume others will connect with that and want it, whether that's galleries or collectors, or curators.

Can you tell us about the process of creating your work? What aspect of your work do you pay particular attention to?

My process starts by searching for the quote that expresses perfectly what I want to deliver. Secondly, choosing the colours based on the emotions the quote describes, I apply layers of colours and start outlining the eyes and lips on the base colours. Finally, I use an acrylic pen to do the eyelines and add finishing touches; I like to use dark lines in my paintings. I feel black lines are like letters and numbers in any language, and dark lines are my own language. I pay more attention to how to make the eye expressive, either happy, sad, dull, grim, and so on.

What is the most challenging part of your work? And where do you find inspiration?

I find inspiration by watching people around, in a gathering, party, a restaurant, or during a walk. By watching their eyes, you can read their minds and emotions. For example, one person could be laughing while their eyes reflect sadness, another person could be very calm and quiet while their eyes reflect anxiety. I am very sensitive, and I get attached to different emotions around me.

The most challenging part of my work is when I express human feelings with an eye or lips. Not easy, but I enjoy doing that, and I feel my eyes and lips are giving back what emotions I want to express.

What is your favourite experience as an artist so far?

My favourite experience so far is when I hear or read lovely comments from the audience over a painting I did, when I enter a competition, or when I exhibit, I feel the message I am trying to deliver did reach the receiver's heart.

Do you have a role model that you've drawn inspiration from when creating your art?

I guess all artists are role models to me, no specific artist. I learn from every artist I meet or follow on Instagram or read an interview. Each artist is creative, as art does come from creative souls.

What are you working on now, and what are your plans? Anything exciting you can tell us about? 

I am working on a series called Gathering, about different emotions developed by people attending a public gathering or a party, trying to evolve different expressions in one painting. The series is developed from the following Eleanor Roosevelt's quote: "Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, small minds discuss people".
There is a plan for a solo exhibition about gathering after summer. Furthermore, I am working on a series of portraits. However, the idea is still forming.

Do you find that the shift to digital exhibitions and art fairs has helped you promote your work? 

Shifting to digital exhibitions became a great change. During the pandemic, we artists had a chance to keep working and producing art because we found a new way to promote and exhibit around the world. Furthermore, digital exhibitions give a chance to increase the number of exhibiting with respected galleries and reach more audiences around the world, with the advantage of cutting the cost of traveling and shipping the art pieces here and there.

What do you wish to accomplish this year, both in terms of career goals and personal life?

I would like to build a strong name in the art community; therefore, my goal this year is to enter auctions and big art fairs. In my personal life, I wish my family to grow healthier and more creative. 

Finally, share something you would like the world to know about you?

I am very ambitious, I always look up, and there is always a level I am trying to reach. This feeling keeps me going, enjoying what I do and aiming for better. Therefore, I do not think I will stop searching for a new me in my paintings, stop experimenting with my methods or stop learning until I reach the time when I do a piece that reflects my soul.