VCUarts Qatar student’s paintings, part of an exhibition titled “Home Through My Eyes” is attracting the attention of the art lovers.
The paintings focus on Qatar’s desert landscape. The range of scenery, the intricate details, the contrast of pastel and bold hues, and the delicate layers that add a three-dimensional depth, conjure up the image of an experienced artist who, with sensitivity and skill, has captured Qatar’s natural beauty.
The person behind the artworks, Hissa al-Khuzaei, an interior design junior, was introduced to oil painting only in her second year at VCUarts Qatar and that this exhibition is her first solo one.
Al-Khuzaei says, “In the spring of 2023, in my sophomore year, I took a class titled ‘Painting From Within’. Though I had limited experience with acrylic paints, the class was my first exposure to oil paints.
“Professor Payne, who led the class, introduced me to the basic techniques and nuances of this medium. He even provided several painting books to enhance my learning experience. Under his mentorship, I quickly picked up the skills. It was a journey. I’d go so far as to say it taught me a bit about myself as well. For instance, it required me to be patient, waiting for each layer to dry before applying the next. I realised it is that layering that allows the artist to add more depth to a painting.”
Al-Khuzaei is a nature lover. Her interest in nature was inspired by her great-grandfather, a nature-based medicine expert who ran a shop in the old Souq Waqif.
As a child, she would wait impatiently for the weekend visits to their family farm in Al Shamal, in the north of Qatar. Those weekends were made up of endless rambles, collecting twigs, leaves and flowers and observing indigenous flora and fauna.
When it comes to painting, she often chooses to depict nature in a blend of realism and abstract impressionism. For this series, Al Khuzaei says she drew inspiration from the many drives she had with her family to Al-Guwayriyah, the Purple Island mangroves, Sealine in Mesaieed and Al Zubara beach.
Once a specific site inspires her, she decides to explore the location further. Armed with her camera, paints, and primed paper, she captures various perspectives which she uses as references for painting when she’s back in her studio. At times, when the weather is suitable, she indulges in ‘plein-air painting’, or outdoor painting as it is more commonly called.