The illustration of an artwork involves utmost imagination, which enables the artist to express his emotions, with the creation of certain aesthetic qualities, in a two dimensional visual language. The elements of this language – its shape, colour, tone, and texture when assembled together result in an artistic piece which peeks through the visionary mind of the originator. I stepped into the Art Scene Gallery to attend visual traditional art by S. A. Noory being unveiled at the gallery, in a solo exhibition. For a person like me who is not into art but doesn’t mind to traverse through creativity in any form, by catching the sight of his creations even I was sure about the fact that the artist was well practiced about how he has to put his ideas onto the canvas. I was gripped by the immaculate pieces with beaming colours and finesse.

I got in touch with the artist to know more about his artistic works in the field. Upon asking how long he has been associated with this art form, I was surprised to know that he has been painting for more than 20 years; and honestly so much dedication is rare to find in today’s hustling life. I’ve heard that an artist is never completely satisfied with his work and I didn’t miss a second to ask him out of curiosity of being rightly informed or not. “I am trying to do my best for the paintings I make but surely when you want to do even better than you did before, you are not satisfied,” he quoted. When I wanted to know about the connection he has with his art and how can he relate to it, he was of the opinion that it is in human nature to share his perspectives through a platform he is inspired by and as an artist he can share his thoughts and ideas via painting, and so whatever he likes, he paints.

There are different styles of painting like abstract art, conceptual art, Hyperrealism, pop art, Futurism, Impressionism and so on. Artists can either focus on single styles or a combination of styles. About his style, he said that he mostly paints on Sufism as the main purpose is to convey the message of love and peace and to paint on the said subject makes him feel as if he’s contributing in spreading peace among the society. Rajasthani theme and camels are his interests because of his liking for beautiful ornaments, colourful turbans and decorations. He also paints on still life genre and mainly anything that is worthy of putting onto the canvas.

As I inquired whether it is the first time for him to exhibit his work he said, “I have held 12 solo shows and numerous group shows within the country and abroad as well including U.A.E, London, Singapore and U.S.A. I have also received a merit award from the Naperville Art league in U.S.A.” An artist is someone, whose work speaks louder than his words. Was it ever difficult for him to convert his provoking ideas on the canvas, he exclaimed that he has never faced any situation like this and believes that a true artist can easily put down anything on the canvas that comes to mind.

Noory reminisced that he was in grade 7 when he participated in a painting competition at the Arts Council held by UNICEF. It was then, when he realised his command over the craft after getting first position out of 400 students. And so, after intermediate, he went to an art school and pursued a four year diploma in Fine Arts. In this recent collection, we’ve got to spot visual art pieces on Sufism, still life subjects and camels. He also portrayed a glimpse of rural life. Revealing the techniques used for his creations he stated, “I’ve made some of my paintings from watercolours and others are created from acrylics. I’ve even used oil on canvas in some of my paintings.” On wanting to know about the time invested in a single depiction he proclaimed, “It's difficult to exactly quote how long I take in completing a painting because I usually work on more than one piece at a time. Some days, I spend many hours to paint and only give one or two hours the other day, it all depends on my mood.”

Usually, not everyone has an understanding or is inclined towards this particular form of arts; when asked about the response he got from the attendees of the exhibition, he explained, “Of course everyone does not have much knowledge but they do like art and appreciate, some of them even have a good sense. In my case, my work received a lot of appreciation.”