KARACHI: Shaira Ariz, a Pakistani artist who has shown her paintings at leading art galleries in Riyadh, makes women’s empowerment a central theme of her work, inspired by reforms in the Kingdom brought about by the Saudi crown prince.
The self-taught artist was born in Karachi and lived in Saudi Arabia for more than a decade before recently resettling in Pakistan.
In an interview with Arab News this week, Ariz said she started her career as an artist by making “creative boxes” that she sold at marketplaces across Riyadh, but after Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s socioeconomic reforms brought about dramatic changes in the country, she honed her skills in sketching and drawing, and eventually turned toward tackling complex subjects as an abstract artist.
In 2016, the Saudi crown prince unveiled Vision 2030, the wide-ranging reform plan aimed at ending the Kingdom’s reliance on oil and transforming it into a global investment power. The strategic framework also promotes women’s empowerment, as well Saudi Arabia’s ancient heritage and national identity.
“Women’s empowerment is the central theme of my paintings. I saw the crown prince taking many steps for women and work was done to make them move forward, so I thought I should also do something,” said Ariz, who has exhibited her artwork at Naila Art Gallery in Riyadh, among others.
“I did sketching, drawing and then I started acrylic polling,” the artist said, referring to different techniques she subsequently learnt. “Then I moved toward realism, (and) then started abstract work and did mixed-media art.”
Ariz chose women’s empowerment as a central theme of her paintings to inspire other women.
“Today’s woman is very talented. I want to (display) their talent, so I create messages for them,” she said, pointing to one of her paintings.
“I have (painted) a window and there is a woman standing against a wall. So, in this, I wanted to tell that there’s a woman who is pushed against the wall and she has dreams to progress, and she wants to move forward. At certain points, the woman gets tired, but even then, she constantly strives to move forward, and she creates her own path for herself.”
In another painting, Ariz used coins to dispel the impression that income earned by expatriates was “easy money.”
“I have tried to show in this painting that people see the money of those living in foreign countries, but they don’t see their hard work. So, I have tried to show that a person earns after so much hard work,” she said.
Now living again in Karachi, Ariz said she cherishes her memories of the Kingdom.
She remembers how people in Saudi Arabia support each other, and the love and acceptance she received as an artist.
“All artists support each other there,” she said, recalling her first visit to the Naila Art Gallery.
“They treated me as if they had known me for a long time.”
