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THE BEST STORIES ARE IN THE DETAILS
Sahwa Mustahail
If wishes were horses

“The paintings that I create reflect my mood at the time. With a change in mood, the paintings change. But on the whole, my art reflects my personality. I usually paint things that I love and I like adding a point of view. Some of my work is surreal, and sometimes it is expressionist.” So says Sahwa Mustahail, a fashion design graduate and artist.

“I began painting when I was little. I must have been in grade four. As I remember, I wasn’t very good with colours; but I realised that I loved drawing. My sister used to draw a lot and I looked up to her. She is far more relaxed as an artist than I am. It’s only now that I use my rigidity to my advantage. While a lot of things inspire me, I do not like producing work that is purely decorative and does not say something. Still life painting is not graphical enough for me.”

Instead, Sahwa experiments with a mix of elements and techniques – drawing on her love for animals (“I love the outdoors, although bugs scare me”), her use of typography in her paintings and her take on fashion design, which she studied at MECIT.

“The fashion design course taught me that a garment is a piece of art with functionality. This gave me the opportunity to explore my art in a different perspective. Design is not easy. But it is a channel to discovery.”

Sahwa created a clothing line as part of her final-year college project, and says she was inspi-red by elements of Omani men’s wear that she then adapted for women. “The clothing line is under the name of Sateib K Sajdi, a combination of the five main Arabic qualities that portray the identity of an Omani man: simplicity (bseet), hospitality (joud), kindness (taib), generosity (kareem) and bravery (shja’a). The collection highlights the Omani soul in a westernised manner.”

“The field of art and design has no boundaries. I believe that a person from a strong cultural background should get inspired by it, and be an ambassador of one’s own country.”