If you have been following me on my socials, you must be aware that I have been working on a special new series for the past couple of months. The series, The Wise Women, initially was just an art collection of three paintings called, the Three Wise Women, that I had created as an homage to the great Chinese maxim of the Three Wise Monkeys.
The Three Wise Women for me was the start of a new chapter in my career as an artist. It all began when I had just started posting images of my work on Instagram and when I shared photos of the Three Wise Women series, the response that I got was just overwhelming. I received an influx of enquiries about the paintings and before I knew it, I had agreed on the sale of the collection and it had ONLY been an hour after I had posted about them on my Instagram. I took this as a sign of really investing myself and my resources in developing my career as an artist.
Cut to a few years later, I can proudly say that the Three Wise Women really were my guides all along and helped me make the wisest choice when it came to my professional life. I have created work that has been appreciated by my peers and the masses alike, I have made incredible connections with people that I now consider friends. I have received accolades and appreciation on a national and international level, something that I had faintly envisioned for myself when I was painting the Three Wise Women.
Now, in the mid of 2022, I found myself going back to the Three Wise Women and realized that there is a creative opportunity to further expand the series into a full collection of artworks. I wanted to update the maxim of Three Wise Monkeys for the modern-day audience and include the philosophical dilemmas of existing in the digital age. Moreover, the incredible opportunity of being ME Dubai’s Artist in Residence had presented itself and I knew that this would be the prefect time to release a new series.
So, with careful deliberation, I came up with four new tenets to the original Three Wise Monkeys maxim: Think no evil. Do no evil. Admit no evil. Post no evil and I created four new Wise women to represent these tenets. With the original and new Wise Women together, I had a new collection for my ME Dubai exhibition and it was fittingly called, The Wise Women.
With the amazing support of ME Dubai, I was able to put together an ambitious exhibition that was not only fitting for the Wise Women, but also presented various facets of my artistry.
Taking place in the hotel’s legendary atrium from 19th January until 17th February, the show exhibits three distinct versions of the artworks. Firstly, the hand-painted acrylic artworks are displayed in the traditional manner, using cotton canvases stretched on wooden internal frames along with external, decorative wooden concrete frames. Along with the paper certificate of authenticity, all these traditionally painted artworks are sold with their respective NFTs which will be transferred to the buyer’s crypto wallet.
Limited print editions of the artworks are also displayed within Suite ME, consisting of 25 unique prints for each of the seven ‘Wise Women’. Each print has been digitally drawn and printed on transparent acrylic with aluminium hangings, and also come with their own NFTs. The third iteration of the ‘Wise Women’ series are showcased in the space using state of the art screens and represent the complete amalgamation of art with NFT technology.
Being at the launch of the Wise Women exhibition was a humbling experience and one that I would consider a landmark for my career. With my loved ones and peers by my side, I have started the new year celebrating the Wise Women and I hope that they would continue to guide me with their infinite wisdom.
Also, if you can, I would love for you to visit the ME Dubai’s Atrium and have a look at the Wise Women yourself!
Shop my artwork collection here.
Check my digital artwork collection here.