Paper Power

Manama

When Hussain Ali Noami spends hours hunched over a piece of paper, creative arts born. The Bahrain-based artist captures the crux of portraits onto a canvas. He combines different kinds of medium, and carefully aligns them to come up with an art with a vision.  

His paper cut arts are haunting and their impressions leave an aura. This talented artist sees art in every piece of junk that surrounds him. Even though relatively new to the local art scene, his imagination and uniqueness has already captured many people. His vibrant and interesting works include the portraits of Che Guevara, Muhammad Ali, Marilyn Monroe, Virat Kohli and many others. 

 Despite being a self-taught artist, Noami’s quintessential artistic works in paper leave us spellbound. He chooses fine detailing of his art from his own researches and enquiries. Unlike, other artists, he loves to merge and experiment enormous techniques to produce one piece of art. 

The beginning

“Once I asked my dad whether I could use a blank wall to paint.  It was the time when our house renovation was going on. I got the permission, and I started working on it. For many years, I was hailed by all the visitors for the art which I drew on the wall,” he recalled. 

“What surprises me is the medium that I use. I am inspired by pieces of waste papers. I cut, arrange and make them to portrait.  Usually, the process takes one or two days. Out of many portraits I have done, glue played an important role,” Noami explained.

 According to him, he tries to communicate with his subject. “For example, if I am planning to draw a portrait, I will draw the eyes first and start communicating with the subject. I literally speak to the subject and that is how, I am inspired.”

“I am also drawn by the roughness of the portraits that I do. Apart from glue, I use acrylics also to give those highlights and shadows,” he remarked, and added: “I have yet another passion. I can transfer any photograph or a picture onto a wood. The art form is stable and brings out another level of beauty.” 

Noami said though he was a self-taught and self-trained artist, he believed that there should be a proper learning process to become an artist. “ I appreciate that there are art classes and workshops at schools, but what drew my attention was the method they are adapting to teach the students.”

“There should not be spoon-feeding, the children should be given a chance to explore themselves, experiment with their own creations and concepts. Nowadays, art classes are similar to what we call as ‘a definitive course of study,’” he pointed out.  “However, I feel that what drives one to become an artist is the passion, without which no formal training can help you to become one,” Noami commented.

Meanwhile, Noami, a novice in the art scene of Bahrain, have participated in the Al Ali Art Fest, 2016.  “I will be looking forward to participating in various art platforms. Moreover, I welcome everyone in Bahrain to visit my home, where I have displayed all my works. Anyone could call me and book an appointment to see my art works and get trained on how to do paper cutting arts,” he added. Noami’s art works can be followed on goodlife_artoholic.