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Through the canvas and her creativity, ‘art-preneur’ Saira Ranj is sharing her journey and what it means to challenge the status quo, in her upcoming solo art exhibition.
Featuring 11 of her oil, acrylic and mixed media pieces, Saira’s exhibition titled An Entrepreneur’s Odyssey opens on Saturday on the ground floor of the Harbour Gate located within the Bahrain Financial Harbour.
It is scheduled to run until September 27.
“These pieces were created over a period of three months,” Saira told GulfWeekly.
“The painting process is an all-encompassing one. When I start the journey, it bleeds into days… weekends are a blur, hours are a blur, it’s just the complete immersion in the piece being brought to life.”
The exhibition encapsulates Saira’s artistic and business development journeys, building on the experience she gained during her first solo showcase last year titled The Hands Speaketh.
“Solo exhibitions have a messaging that’s far more intense than a group one,” she reminisced.
“It takes a lot out of you. The Hands Speaketh showcase, held right here, spoke about reading art and how a layperson with no art education can enjoy understanding and interpreting art.”
With An Entrepreneur’s Odyssey, the 50-year-old Seef resident, who will celebrate her birthday just the day before her latest exhibition, has expanded beyond her comfort zone of oil portraits with many of the pieces on display bringing in themes of pop, abstract and realistic art, depending on ‘whatever the canvas demanded from the idea’.
“Essentially I am an oil portrait artist, that’s what is at the core of my being,” she explained.
“However when crafting commerce you can’t delve into just that. It’s such a balancing act - like a juggler, you keep the multiple objects in the air moving in a well-co-ordinated manner, showcasing the skill and dexterity while managing your anxiety levels quietly.”
Saira’s artistic journey was incepted in childhood, with writing and painting. Over the years, she has learned and taught a multitude of mediums, from pencil to charcoals, acrylics, water colours and oil, in a smorgasbord of styles from miniatures to murals.
“Over the years, I have tried out various mediums and practised and taught them as well,” she added.
“I truly believe my life is about bringing beautiful things to life! And when I talk about beauty, it is beauty with all its shades from the pristine whites to the shady greys and the dark darks. Everything has a streak of beauty in it.”
On the entrepreneurial side, Saira currently heads the marketing division of a regional automobile rental company, and is also the founder of an avant-garde artistic skill development centre.
“To be an entrepreneur is a challenge in itself. However, to be one riding the dark horse is no mean feat and so this exhibition is all about uncovering just that,” she added.
“It’s up there for people to see the steps of how one needs to just dive in and do it! It entails not the ‘how to’ but the ‘how I did it’ - in my own way.
“Steps show up as you walk, they literally appear and you trust the light in front of you and move. Momentum is everything.”
For more details, follow @threadconnector and @createit.bh on Instagram.
