My name is Aminath Hishma Zakariyya. I was born and raised in Male’ and I’m a self-taught artist. I always see my sisters and cousins drawing and their talent always amazed me so I started drawing from a very young age and I think that’s how I got interested in art. When I was a kid, I use to spend my time making cards for my family members and sewing dresses for my dolls and making tiny furniture’s for them. I believe that’s how I got interested and fonder with handicraft works rather than fine arts.
Things changed when I started studying arts in my secondary grade. That’s when I started practicing my skills, exploring new things and trying out different mediums of art. It was very challenging for me to focus on a particular type since I enjoyed every medium of art that I have tried so far. I tried paintings, drawings, craft works, stone carving, sand art, henna, pouring art and resin art. In 2019, I started experimenting with resin and enjoyed my journey as a self-taught artist. Ever since than I’m dedicating my time to learn, develop and improve this medium. My biggest inspiration to do resin art was the beautiful landscapes of Maldives beaches and the bright blue colours of the sea. What I loved about resin is that I could mix pigments to change its colour, adjust its opacity, add layers, and that it had a glossy water-like finish.
Having been born and raised in Maldives I can’t help but love the ocean and its endless blues. Ocean is the main theme of my artwork. In general, my work aims to soothe the mind and soul with the serenity that a sea view brings. The more you look at any one piece, the more engrossed you can get in the details, which are always the highlight for me. I’ve always wondered how it would look to put a piece of ocean inside a table. That’s why I decided to make one of the most tourist and locals attracted dive point ‘Keyodhoo shipwreck’ for last year’s unveiling vision exhibition. It displays a sense of tragedy, mystery and beauty.
I get few commissions work. I wouldn’t say this is a good income source cause its difficult to tell what might happen in future and this is not a field you can rely on. For me making an artwork is quite challenging, because it’s hard to find the right equipment, tools and resin from Maldives. And even if I managed to get them it’s quite costly. Due to this the prices of art work gets high. Till now I’ve only been able to exhibited my art work on ‘fannugedharin’ and two times for ‘Unveiling visions’ exhibition. I haven’t started this year’s ‘Unveiling Visions’ work yet but yes, I’m getting ready for it. Very excited and can’t wait to see amazing art works this year as well.
I’m currently doing art as a hobby but I want to turn this passion into a career, and I’m hoping to have a solo exhibition soon Insha Allah. My vision is to continue making art and to make a good income out of it.
