Ranya Abdulateef

Do you feel that social media has had a role in your artwork at all?

Social media for me is another way to show my work. It does need more time and to be a lot more active, which I find difficult as I’m not too active on socials, but I try not to rely on it too much. I’ve still been posting recent commissions and workshops, especially recording the processes, but since the pandemic it doesn’t work as well for me as I have become less active on social media. I feel now that there are many things you need to know to improve your social media and this is where I struggle as I don’t have enough time to improve my skills. But I’d like to aim to improve my social media skills one day.

I noticed a laptop in your workspace, do you use technology within your work much?

All my work is done by hand as I can’t create as fine detailed work using the computer, yet it’s always near perfect with my hand. My computer comes in handy when I need to develop screen prints or take parts of different designs and put them together. I’m working on a mural at the moment, and because of its size, all the work needed to be done on the computer, but with my lack of skills it took me way longer that it would have if I had done it by hand! It’s not my favourite option, but sometimes it can be useful.

Does your creativity stay within your studio?

I am creative everywhere, it used to be mostly in my studio before moving to a bigger home where I have a creative corner. I work here if the weather is not suitable or I am not able to get into the studio. But generally I always try to keep creative anywhere.

Tell me about a recent commission you mentioned, did producing art for a certain space limit or change your creativity? 

My current commission was a big challenge for me, especially as it’s mostly done on the computer. It wasn’t that easy, but I did learn a lot from moving it over to a textile piece on a large wall which is a big development for me. It was a huge challenge for myself but it will help me to establish some interior design work and add another skill to my portfolio.

What advice would you give to aspiring artists?

Never think that you can’t do anything. Art can be your best friend when you’re going through tough times, and some of the work you create in these times could be the best work that you could create or even the reason to get inspired by doing something bigger and developing your practice or starting something new in your life.