"Smooi chose her art ideas from her interest in designing, travelling and her teaching journey. Her methods involve assembling, collage and painting. interest is not limited to just the painting itself but the creation of it through mixing and constructing. Smooi has also developed a passion in reusing materials, or as she calls it ‘upcycling’. Her works are usually constructed from used or discarded materials that would then be given a new meaning and purpose.
We at Creative Space Art Gallery & Studio are delighted to have Smooi join us again as an artist to our upcoming exhibition: EMERGE4: SYNESTHESIA, which opens on Sunday, the 10th of September. Smooi shares with us her journey towards being an artist and how she came around her unique practice of ‘upcylicng’.
“After more than 10 years in the field of Art education, I was inspired to start painting. I am in the midst of searching for an identity as an artist, I am currently practising oil painting and creating mixed media works. I am still in the process of trying out many different styles and techniques. I wouldn’t want to be tied down to one particular style or technique at this stage as I am still very happy to discover and experiment in diversity. The result of my work can be any combinations and variants of the above depending on what inspires me during that period of time.
I would not call my art practice as unique at the moment because my art making varies from time to time. However, I do like to incorporate ‘used items’ such as papers, fabric, discarded wood trimmings and any other sentimental or personal items as part of my work. My work explores the relationship between nature and recycling materials. I wanted to establish a link between the nature’s growth and the man-made world. My interest in greeneries, designing and reusing materials was stimulated into new pieces from new and collected items.”
For the latest installation to the EMERGE project, Creative Space Art Gallery & Studio has invited artists to explore and challenge their creativity by creating pieces of art that is inspired by their auditory senses instead of their visual senses. By combining audio material and visual artworks, the exhibition is an exploration of the theme ‘SYNESTHESIA’.
We asked Smooi for her thoughts on the theme of EMERGE 4 and the audio material that inspired her to create the pieces for the upcoming exhibition.
“It is a challenging yet interesting topic. I have seen works of an artist who painted landscape inspired by sound & was impressed by the outcome. There is a vast range of sounds around us. I was a little lost at the beginning in selecting music for this work. There were too many ideas with sound.I usually work while listening to some form of music but I seldom consciously link my works to the sound that I listened to. This theme had me consciously listened to the best & dynamics of the music.
I listen to the sound of several musical instruments, instrumentals allow a freedom in interpretation. The artworks are developed from the dynamic & flow of the sound. My hands moved with the dynamic of the music, my mind coordinated with the sound of the instruments & ideas developed along the way. I did not have a plan nor photos or sketches to oblige to, I just created along with the sound. But I knew I wanted to create a collage using some items that I have salvaged.”
EMERGE 4: SYNESTHESIA opens Sunday 10th of September 2017 to 8th of October 2017, and the public are invited, with headphones/ earphones in hand, to immerse themselves in the world of synesthesia.
EMERGE is an initiative by Creative Space Art Gallery & Studio to provide a platform for local emerging artist to showcase their artworks to the public The aims of the EMERGE project includes transforming artist’s creative endeavors into a sustainable activity and to contribute to the development of the Sultanate’s contemporary art scene.
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