16 Artists&Illustrators
SaraShamma,
Hidingin Plain
Sight, oiland
acryliconcanvas,
255x150cmFresh Paint
Inspiring new artworks, straight off the easel
Sara Shamma
For Syrian artist Sara Shamma, the human figure has
long been a source of inspiration. Working with three
dance students from the Peckham School of Drama,
Sara prepared for Hiding in Plain Sight by taking a series
of photographs. “I never know what I want from a life
model, so I just ask them to move randomly,” she explains.
“I might ask them to make themselves very small or tell
them to make their movements very large. For this painting,
I asked them to imagine they were escaping or hiding.
I didn’t know exactly what the outcome would be.”
Sara also avoids any form of planning when painting,
preferring instead to see where each work might take her.
“If I plan ahead, the act of creating the painting would
be boring because I will know what it is going to be.
The exciting thing about my work is not knowing –
it’s the only way I’ll be able to create something new.”
Sara will often add texture by dripping dilute oils down
her canvas and leaving parts of this visible in her final
painting, or scratching back through the paint layers with
a scalpel. She insists her “disorganised mind” works best
when not limited to a specific colour palette, instead
choosing pigments as she goes, and her organised studio
is integral to this practice, with every paint tube bulldog-
clipped to the wall. “If I cannot see them, I cannot
remember what colours I have,” she says. “I need to
be able to see everything at all times.”
Hiding in Plain Sight will be on show this autumn as part
of Sara’s exhibition, Modern Slavery, which was curated by
Sky Arts Artist of the Year judge Kathleen Soriano and
staged in collaboration with the King’s College Institute of
Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience. “Through my work
I always hope that I will touch the subconscious mind of the
viewer, and move them and shake them to do something,”
says Sara. “I would love for visitors to my exhibition to learn
more about modern slavery and understand that this is a
huge issue which is still happening.”
Sara Shamma: Modern Slavery runs until 22 November at
Arcade at Bush House, King’s College London, London WC2.
http://www.sarashamma.com