Art is the Language of My Inner World’ says emerging artist Safa Peshimam

With bold colours and a paint brush in her deft hands, Safa Peshimam etches the essence of her emotions on her canvas. The 22-year-old UAE-based much accoladed Indian artist reveals that her art is the creative language of her inner world. A multi hyphenate, an MBA from Heriot Watt University Dubai, she is equally at ease being a poetess, writer, photographer, fashionista and digital content creator. “My tryst with art began at the age of eight as a deeply personal and emotional experience.  I was extremely shy and inarticulate and it was through art that I found an outlet to best describe my emotions,” she tells Middle East Masala.

Growing up, art for the youngster, who is also known as Kalopsia Whiz, remained a hobby, a form of creative expression and an escape from reality, until the pandemic struck in 2020. The uncertainty during this difficult worldwide epidemic stirred in Safa, a desire to dive deeper into creating art with an intense passion. Centering her work around human emotions, she took her artistic journey a notch higher by participating in numerous events and exhibitions. “The pandemic propelled in me a desire to make art that viewers can relate to. From tragedy to triumph, my abstract artworks captured different facets of life,” she says.

Self-taught, she is equally adept at abstracts, portraits, landscapes, calligraphy, thread art and still life. She brushed her artistic techniques while experimenting with different mediums. “I strongly believe that there is no wrong way in art, it’s your imagination. I have always allowed myself the freedom to learn and create with an open mind,” she explains.

This process of boundless creativity mirrored her transformative journey of self-discovery where inspiration often crept in unknowingly and at times stuck instantly. Encounters with other artists, an insider’s view of art events and exposure to global cultures, all fuelled in her ideas that she unleashed not only on her canvas but also through her poetry, photography and fashion choices. Under the pen name, Kalopsia Whiz, Safa’s book of poems, titled Elegy (a serious reflection of grief and sorrow) in 2021, won her the Rabindranath Tagore Literature Award by Dawn Research and Development Council (DRDC), India. “Kalopsia means the delusion of assuming things to be more beautiful than they are and Whiz is derived from Wizardry. Together the name represents my journey of turning the mundane into magical, both in my artistic creations and the way I perceive the world around me,” she shares.

Dabbling effortlessly through different mediums has been her forte as it aided in expanding her overall artistic vision. For instance, she shares, a poem inspired a photography project and the images, at times, led to a new piece of writing. This balancing act stood her in good stead over the years as she pursued both art and academics. “During my student life, I carved out dedicated periods for my art. Weekends were assigned for extended creative sessions. My artistic escapades helped me to return recharged to my textbooks.”

The year 2023, for the young artist, ended on a high note as she was featured as one of the Top 10 public figures in Fame Delivered publication fuelling her with a renewed vigour and optimism to embrace new challenges and transcend her creative spirit.