HER White Knight solo exhibition was the talk of the town among art and media circles back in 2017. Artist Raimi Sani recently sat down to talk with theSun about her life and the experience of becoming a mother, and how her art has been affected by the pandemic situation.
“I grew up in a family of, I would say, artistic background. My late grandfather was actively involved in the film industry and was a published poet. My late grandmother was a tailor who handsewed most of my clothes, growing up,” Raimi explained.
The artist noted that her grandparents’ love for beauty and art had trickled down to her mother, a graphic designer-turned-art teacher, while her father was a cartographer, with a love for DIY handiworks, graphics, typography and the Islamic khat.
Surrounded by and growing up around family members that were involved in the creation of different forms of art, Raimi exclaimed that she was proud that her love for art was greatly influenced by the former.
“I remember joining various drawing contests when I was younger. My parents encouraged me and my siblings to do so. There was a time when we joined one as a team, too. I suppose you can say I was ‘drawn’ to art at a very young age,” she said.
Coming into her own
Even before moving towards pursuing a degree in Fine Arts and graduating, Raimi brought up how she was already involved in entrepreneurship as a way to earn extra money, which involved her creating mural commissions and prints on garments.
“Gradually as I gained more knowledge on techniques and discovered my personal style, these artworks evolved into paintings on canvas. From there, by word of mouth and through networking, I began to receive artwork commission offers and gallery exhibit invitations,” she said.
“I’ve been lucky that my journey has developed organically. Perhaps in part [due to the fact that] I tend to focus on expressing myself through doing something that I love. So I feel blessed that others perhaps can sense that. When they do, the opportunity follows suit.”
As an artist that doesn’t “settle” and strives to continue improving, an aspect that can be seen in her artwork, Raimi fervently tries to improve herself as an artist by learning new techniques, taking part in joint exhibitions where she is able to build her creative network to gain insights from other artists, obtain useful feedback from the gallery and other art enthusiasts.
“Sometimes I give talks to students and budding artists. Not only to share my experience, but I know I could also learn a thing or two from fresh young minds,” she said.
The finer details
Three years after her White Knight exhibition, Raimi was questioned on the progress she has made as an artist, to which she succinctly answered: “To gauge my progress would be quite subjective, (and) coming from my own perspective, at best the answer would be biased.
“I can say, however, that I have been experimenting with my style, without deviating too much from my preferred subject matter. I am studying different textures and surfaces, and dabbled in using new media as well. I call it ‘A study of light’.
“It is still a long journey in my opinion. A continuous effort to use my life experiences to be more aware of the intricate details, and to capture them in my art.”
The artist further explained that the life experiences which contribute to her progress in learning, understanding and perfecting her art includes “motherhood”, a new aspect of her life which she experienced earlier this year.
Looking inwards
Raimi, who became a mother at the start of the year, said: “Personally, it invokes in me the sense of contentment and fear (of not being a perfect mother), happiness and curiosity all at once.
“I’m calmer, yet more alert and aware, now that I am responsible for another human being. To sum up, it has made me more fragile and stronger at the same time. This is reflected in how I view beauty and approach my art nowadays.”
As she now has a child to care for, Raimi unsurprisingly points out that her time is more divided, and she further admits that her obsessive-compulsive workaholic hours have been toned down, while her attention to detail has increased.
“My son was even featured in one of my recent works. I can say that he inspired me to be more alert, more adventurous to try new things, and definitely more disciplined in terms of delegating my time between family and work.
“Sometimes a different phase of your life can shed light onto seemingly regular things; suddenly it makes you see and appreciate things differently. So I guess in short, that’s how I would describe my progress. I’ve learned to see and understand things from a different angle now, and that helps me improve my art and be more curious.”
Raimi is currently focusing on upcoming projects which include a gallery exhibition at G13, which will be a group exhibit.
