Sara Shakeel

Last updated
Sara Shakeel first notable artworks Crystal Toilet Roll .jpg
Sara Shakeel first notable artworks
Sara Shakeel
NationalityPakistani
Known forArtist
Notable workGlitter Stretch Marks, The Big Day album cover
Style2- and 3-dimensional collage, glitter, crystals
Website https://sarashakeel.com/

Sara Shakeel is a Pakistan raised, London-based contemporary artist known for using glass crystals to create both digital and physical collages on photography and three-dimensional objects. [1] [2]

Contents

Sara Shakeel diamond plane went viral on social media & local news channels. Diamond Plane .jpg
Sara Shakeel diamond plane went viral on social media & local news channels.

Artistic career

Shakeel first taught herself Photoshop and began using her artwork as an outlet for her emotions. [3] [4] Shakeel began posting her art on the social media platform Instagram where she gained a following of over one million followers. [5] In the fall of 2019, Shakeel released a capsule clothing collection in collaboration with the London-based retailer Browns as well as displaying her piece The Great Supper in their store. [6] [7]

Glitter Stretch Marks

Shakeel's first body of work was posted on Instagram under the hashtag #glitterstretchmarks. Shakeel superimposed gold glitter, crystals, and galaxies onto images of stretch marks. By covering these stretch marks in glitter and crystals, Shakeel's goal was to promote body positivity and empowerment by taking something often seen as an imperfection and turning it into art. [3] [1] [8] [9] In 2019, Shakeel collaborated with Reebok to create an ad for their body image awareness campaign in which she covered the muscles of athlete Jamie Green with Swarovski crystals. [10] [11]

Work with Chance the Rapper

Shakeel created the cover art for Chance the Rapper's album The Big Day . For this piece, Shakeel created a physical CD from glass and resin, then covered it in crystals. [12] The object was then photographed and used for the cover art and promotion. [13] Along with the album art, Chance the Rapper commissioned Shakeel to create work for a pop-up exhibition and retail experience coinciding with his record release titled "The Big Store". [13] In this pop-up, each room drew influence from the rapper's life experiences such as his childhood and his wedding day. [13] Much of the artwork in this exhibition was created by Shakeel, who used thousands of Swarovski crystals to completely cover tables, chairs, dinnerware, microphone stands, toys, and more. [14]

The Great Supper

In 2019, Shakeel created the installation sculpture The Great Supper for an exhibition at NOW Gallery in London. [15] [16] Her inspiration was Leonardo da Vinci's painting The Last Supper and her own memories of eating around the dinner table with her family. She references the importance of the Urdu word gupshup, loosely translated to mean socially-bonding and important conversation. [17] Shakeel received the annual Young Artist's Commission from the NOW Gallery for this piece in 2019. [2]

Response to Coronavirus

Shakeel created a series of images related to hand washing in response to the 2019–20 outbreak of COVID-19. In these images, the water coming from the spout is collaged with crystals and glitter in an attempt to bring a positive impact on people's lives during a difficult time. [18] Shakeel's glittery hand washing images have been used in several blogs and news outlets, including Elle Canada, detailing the best practices for hand washing to prevent the spread of the virus. [19] [20] She also created a series of images featuring health care workers surrounded by glitter and crystals. The original images were sent in via submission to Shakeel. [21] [22]

Sara Shakeel iconic artwork " Wash your hands" series in response to Covid-19 Wash your hands -2 watermark.jpg
Sara Shakeel iconic artwork " Wash your hands" series in response to Covid-19

Related Research Articles

Xerox art is an art form that began in the 1960s. Prints are created by putting objects on the glass, or platen, of a copying machine and by pressing "start" to produce an image. If the object is not flat, or the cover does not totally cover the object, or the object is moved, the resulting image is distorted in some way. The curvature of the object, the amount of light that reaches the image surface, and the distance of the cover from the glass, all affect the final image. Often, with proper manipulation, rather ghostly images can be made. Basic techniques include: Direct Imaging, the copying of items placed on the platen ; Still Life Collage, a variation of direct imaging with items placed on the platen in a collage format focused on what is in the foreground/background; Overprinting, the technique of constructing layers of information, one over the previous, by printing onto the same sheet of paper more than once; Copy Overlay, a technique of working with or interfering in the color separation mechanism of a color copier; Colorizing, vary color density and hue by adjusting the exposure and color balance controls; Degeneration is a copy of a copy degrading the image as successive copies are made; Copy Motion, the creation of effects by moving an item or image on the platen during the scanning process. Each machine also creates different effects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lee Krasner</span> American abstract expressionist painter (1908–1984)

Lenore "Lee" Krasner was an American Abstract Expressionist painter and visual artist active primarily in New York. She received her early academic training at the Women's Art School of Cooper Union, and the National Academy of Design from 1928 to 1932. Krasner's exposure to Post-Impressionism at the newly opened Museum of Modern Art in 1929 led to a sustained interest in modern art. In 1937, she enrolled in classes taught by Hans Hofmann, which led her to integrate influences of Cubism into her paintings. During the Great Depression, Krasner joined the Works Progress Administration's Federal Art Project, transitioning to war propaganda artworks during the War Services era.

Swarovski is an Austrian producer of glass based in Wattens. It was founded in 1895 by Daniel Swarovski.

Wangechi Mutu is a Kenyan American visual artist, known primarily for her painting, sculpture, film, and performance work. Born in Kenya, Mutu now splits her time between her studio there in Nairobi and her studio in Brooklyn, New York, where she has lived and worked for over 20 years. Mutu's work has directed the female body as subject through collage painting, immersive installation, and live and video performance while exploring questions of self-image, gender constructs, cultural trauma, and environmental destruction and notions of beauty and power.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Bradford</span> American visual artist

Mark Bradford is an American visual artist. Bradford was born, lives, and works in Los Angeles and studied at the California Institute of the Arts. Recognized for his collaged painting works, which have been shown internationally, his practice also encompasses video, print, and installation. Bradford was the U.S. representative for the 2017 Venice Biennale. He was included in Time Magazine’s list of the 100 Most Influential People in 2021.

<i>For the Love of God</i> 2007 sculpture by Damien Hirst

For the Love of God is a sculpture by artist Damien Hirst produced in 2007. It consists of a platinum cast of an 18th-century human skull encrusted with 8,601 flawless diamonds, including a pear-shaped pink diamond located in the forehead that is known as the Skull Star Diamond. The skull's teeth are original, and were purchased by Hirst in London. The artwork is a memento mori, or reminder of the mortality of the viewer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anne Ryan</span> American painter

Anne Ryan (1889–1954) was an American Abstract Expressionist artist associated with the New York School. Her first contact with the New York City avant-garde came in 1941 when she joined the Atelier 17, a famous printmaking workshop that the British artist Stanley William Hayter had established in Paris in the 1930s and then brought to New York when France fell to the Nazis. The great turning point in Ryan's development occurred after the war, in 1948. She was 57 years old when she saw the collages of Kurt Schwitters at the Rose Fried Gallery, in New York City, in 1948. She right away dedicated herself to this newly discovered medium. Since Anne Ryan was a poet, according to Deborah Solomon, in Kurt Schwitters’s collages “she recognized the visual equivalent of her sonnets – discrete images packed together in an extremely compressed space.” When six years later Ryan died, her work in this medium numbered over 400 pieces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ebony Patterson</span> Jamaican-born visual artist and educator (born 1981)

Ebony Grace Patterson is a Jamaican-born visual artist and educator. She is known for her large and colorful tapestries created out of various materials such as, glitter, sequins, fabric, toys, beads, faux flowers, jewelry, and other embellishments. Her "Gangstas for Life series" of dancehall portraits, and her garden-inspired installations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Collage</span> Technique of art production using assemblage of different forms

Collage is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sara Rahbar</span> Iranian-born American artist (born 1976)

Sara Rahbar is an Iranian-born contemporary visual artist. Her work ranges from photography to sculpture to installation, all of which reveal and transform the artist's personal experiences and are intimately autobiographical. Her work explores concepts of nationalism, separation and belonging - driven by central ideas of pain, violence and the complexity of the human condition. Compelled by an instinctual obsession to piece together and dissect, her approach is reflective of her need to deconstruct her emotions and memories. She is based in New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nathan Wyburn</span> Welsh artist and media personality

Nathan Wyburn is a Welsh artist and media personality who has created celebrity portraits (iconography) and pop culture imagery using non-traditional media such as foodstuffs and other household items, including most notably working with Marmite on toast.

Mary McCleary is a contemporary American artist currently living and working in Nacogdoches Texas, where she is Stephen F. Austin State University Regent's Professor of Art Emeritus. She is primarily known for her "multi-layered, extremely complex, and detailed" figurative 3-D collages

Lila Katzen, born Lila Pell, was an American sculptor of fluid, large-scale metal abstractions.

Mary Beth Edelson was an American artist and pioneer of the feminist art movement, deemed one of the notable "first-generation feminist artists". Edelson was a printmaker, book artist, collage artist, painter, photographer, performance artist, and author. Her works have been shown at the Museum of Modern Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beau Dunn</span> American actress

Beau Dunn is an American actress, model, visual artist and entrepreneur. based in Los Angeles, California. Dunn’s work consists primarily of mixed media works including neon, paint, photography and sculpture. Next to tackling social and autobiographical issues, Dunn speaks to the contemporary art tradition of using toys and the concept of play as a means to reflect societies’ stereotypes, tastes, and desires. She is best known for her series of Barbie portraits, titled "Plastic", in addition to her appearances in modeling campaigns for Smashbox Cosmetics and as well as her roles in American television series Entourage, Up All Night, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and Melissa & Joey.

Sadie Barnette, is an American artist who works primarily with drawing, photography, and large-scale installation. Her work explores Black life, personal histories, and the political through material explorations. She lives in Oakland, California.

<i>The Big Day</i> (album) 2019 studio album by Chance the Rapper

The Big Day is the debut studio album and most recent release by American rapper Chance the Rapper, released on July 26, 2019. The album follows several mixtapes by the rapper including the reissue of his collaborative Merry Christmas Lil' Mama in 2017, and was his first solo project since Coloring Book in 2016. The album was influenced by Chance's marriage in March 2019. The album was lauded by most critics, but certain aspects of the work found limited commercial success. The album received backlash from fans on social media and other Internet communities citing inconsistencies of quality throughout the work. The album debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200, Chance's highest-charting entry to date.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martine Gutierrez</span> American visual and performance artist (born 1989)

Martine Gutierrez is an American visual and performance artist whose work is about how identity is formed, expressed, and perceived. They have created music videos, billboard campaigns, episodic films, photographs, live performance artworks, and a satirical fashion magazine investigating identity as both a social construct and an authentic expression of self. Gutierrez's work has been exhibited in galleries and museums, notably the Central Pavilion at the 58th Venice Biennale.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jenny Bui</span> Cambodian-American nail artist

Jenny Bui is a Cambodian-American nail artist known for her crystal-studded creations. She was named Nail Artist Influencer of the Year in 2019 and is known as "The Queen of Bling."

Brandon Breaux is a multi-disciplinary artist from the South Side of Chicago whose work includes oil-on-canvas and digital art.

References

  1. 1 2 Marchese, Kieron (Dec 9, 2018). "Sara Shakeel is the Artist Putting Glitter on Everything". Designboom | Architecture & Design Magazine. Retrieved 2019-10-20.
  2. 1 2 "The Great Supper — NOW Gallery". nowgallery.co.uk. Retrieved 2020-01-22.
  3. 1 2 Adhav, Lauren (Oct 31, 2017). "This Woman Uses Glitter to Turn Stretch Marks Into Art and the Results Are Stunning". Cosmopolitan. Retrieved 2019-10-20.
  4. Gonzales, Erica (July 26, 2019). "How an Instagram–Famous Artist Made Chance the Rapper's Debut Album Cover". Harper's BAZAAR. Retrieved 2019-10-20.
  5. "Sara Shakeel (@sarashakeel) • Instagram photos and videos". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 2019-10-20.
  6. "Browns Celebrates the Holidays with Crystal Artist Sara Shakeel & Swarovski | Crystals from Swarovski" . Retrieved 2020-01-22.
  7. "Browns x Sara Shakeel might just be the collest collab of Christmas". Evening Standard. 2019-12-05. Retrieved 2020-01-22.
  8. Staugaitis, Laura (July 26, 2019). "Shimmering Collages and Installations by Sara Shakeel Bring Bedazzled Glamour to Everyday Scenes". Colossal. Retrieved 2019-10-20.
  9. "The Art of: Sara Shakeel, The Original Crystal Artist". This Is Glamorous. 2018-12-21. Retrieved 2020-01-22.
  10. Lefave, Samantha. "This Woman Is Glitter On Abs Because Every Body Is a Work of Art". Shape. Retrieved 2020-01-22.
  11. Artist Sara Shakeel & Athlete Jamie Greene Reimagine Glitter Art | Reebok , retrieved 2020-01-22
  12. Owens, Tanner (July 17, 2019). "Chance the Rapper Reveals Details about New Album". Iowa State Daily. Retrieved 2019-10-20.
  13. 1 2 3 Silbert, Jake (July 31, 2019). "Chance the Rapper Relaunches "The Big Store" Pop-Up Exhibition". HYPEBEAST. Retrieved 2019-10-20.
  14. Garner, Stephen (July 30, 2019). "Change the Rapper to Open Pop-Up Shop this Weekend in Chicago". MR Magazine. Retrieved 2019-10-20.
  15. "Sara Shakeel | The Great Supper (2019) | Available for Sale | Artsy". www.artsy.net. Retrieved 2020-01-22.
  16. Joshi, Gita (2019-05-15). "Sara Shakeel — Blinging it!". Medium. Retrieved 2020-01-22.
  17. Khan, Tabish (2019-05-31). "Meet Sara Shakeel, The Dental Student Whose Bling Art Collages Turned Her Into An Instagram Sensation". Londonist. Retrieved 2020-01-22.
  18. Hitti, Natashah (2020-03-18). "Graphic designers get creative to show support during Covid-19 outbreak". Dezeen. Retrieved 2020-03-29.
  19. "Coronavirus & Don't Forget to Wash your Hands". This Is Glamorous. 2020-03-12. Retrieved 2020-03-29.
  20. Diplacido, Victoria (March 15, 2020). "Where to Find Information on Coronavirus in Canada". Elle Canada. Retrieved 2020-03-29.
  21. "Instagram crystal artist Sara Shakeel pays a glittering tribute to healthcare workers". Grazia Middle East. Retrieved 2020-05-23.
  22. "Pakistani artist Sara Shakeel's crystal-covered image of exhausted medical worker sends powerful message". The National. Retrieved 2020-05-23.