‘An art for your soul’

26-year-old Shafiya Shafi from Lal Bazaar in Srinagar began making portraits in 2016 to give vent to her emotions.

   

Shafiya took up art only to express herself and find solace as she wanted to overcome some turbulent phases she had experienced during her childhood and teenage life.

With her art striking a chord with many youngsters, Shafiya started gaining popularity. “When I look back at my life, I can visualize a diary unfolding. I began expressing myself with the help of these portraits but to my surprise a temporary indulgence into art became a full time passion for me,” Shafiya says.

Shafiya was pursuing a master’s degree in Psychology when she took up art work, which she says helped her for creating better themes.

“I switched from non-medical stream to psychology just because I wanted to pursue something that is more humane. I wanted to understand people and myself better. To my surprise studying psychology became a solid foundation to my art work” she says.

This young and enthusiastic artist who runs a brand by the name “Shafiya Art Works” says she is the first female mural artist from Kashmir.

Shafiya says mural art which involves painting on walls, graffiti and street art is something that has become her forte now. “I was not aware that there was no female who does mural art professionally in Kashmir. It all started when a friend offered me to imprint something creative and aesthetic on his bedroom wall” Shafiya says.

She says after this initial stepping stone where she got a chance to do painting, there was no looking back. “Impressed by the artwork I did at the friend’s house, a popular chain of restaurants offered me to paint graffiti at their outlet at Hazratbal” says Shafiya.

This artist, who is also a food lover, says it was at that point in time she decided that mural art was something she wanted to take up as a full time indulgence. “The mural I painted at the restaurant outlet took me almost one week to complete. This was the maximum time I ever spent on wall art. This is just because I was nervous painting for the first time professionally,” she says.

Apart from this first professional break, Shafiya’s participation in a national-level art competition brought laurels to her alma mater Kashmir University as she bagged the first position in north India zone and at the national level as well. “Even today the alumni achievers hall of fame at the KU campus finds my mention which really overwhelms me” says Shafiya. Shafiya who has done her schooling from Green Valley Educational Institute says as a child she did sketching in school but this was not very frequent. “I used to receive a lot of appreciation for my skill. The science and math teachers would appreciate me for the tidy diagrams I would make” says Shafiya. Shafiya did not leave the passion for art midway. In fact as she joined Women’s College MA Road for her graduation, she participated in a couple of art competitions where she emerged as the winner. “This provided a boost to my skill and a platform for taking up mural art professionally” says Shafiya. Shafiya says at the Kashmir University, her inclination towards art was quite a coincidence as the Fine Arts department building was located close to Psychology Department where she did her master’s degree. “ On the first day of University, I came across some students of the Fine Arts department who were painting casually on a fallen Chinar tree. Even on requesting them to be a part of the activity, they didn’t let me paint. This hit me quite hard but one of the senior fine arts students appreciated me and made me paint on the fallen Chinar. I painted the lips of a girl that was zipped with a caption “Congrats it’s a girl”. This artwork depicts how even in today’s day and age some people are not happy over the birth of a girl child and this art work gained good popularity” says Shafiya. This art work broadcasted on international TV news channels came into Shafiya’s knowledge after four months and came as a pleasant surprise to her.

“The moment I saw such a reputed TV news channel showing my work, I felt more confident. That was the turning point of my life” says Shafiya.

Going a step ahead, Shafiya has expanded her work to certain other mediums. “Now I also do paper-machie on pottery which is used by people to add aesthetic value to spaces, whether at homes or offices”, says Shafiya. She says the aim behind venturing in painting paper machie was to revive this form of Kashmir art. Shafiya says social media has helped her a lot in developing her brand and she has been getting many orders for her art work from across the country and abroad. “Instagram is something that has helped me provide a marketing platform for my artwork. Although I took up art as vent for my feelings but my art works getting commercial viability is quite encouraging” says Shafiya.

Shafiya says if she wouldn’t have been an artist, she would have been a violinist or associated with hospitality and food business. This multi-tasking artist has recently forayed into doing a fusion work of calligraphy and mandala art, an art which is used for therapeutic use as well.

“I have been experimenting with resin art of late, which is an art form in which we can make accessories, furniture and what not. I am keen to take resin art to a commercially viable platform” says Shafiya.

Shafiya signs-off saying she is keen on creating a studio of her own in days to come. Her message to young art enthusiasts is that “just create art for your soul and inner self while money and fame would follow”.

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