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5 Apr 2024
When you visit Sara Shakeel’s website, you are immediately greeted by a mesmerising array of crystals that you can zoom in on, zoom out of, and rotate in every direction. It is captivating — you find yourself pausing at this screen for a while, just staring at it and playing around with it. But today, that is not what we are here to talk about.
Let's go back to Sara Shakeel. She is currently based in London but was born in Pakistan. Originally, she hadn’t planned on becoming an artist — she was studying dentistry and on track to become a dentist (it reminds us of Hashim Nasr' story, who was a dentist before becoming an artist). However, she decided to change everything and not follow that path. Reflecting on this decision, Sara shared with Khamsa: “Back in 2016, I was in my final year of dentistry school, and unfortunately, I didn’t end up being a dentist. I had nothing else to do, so it may have been a happy accident, but I started creating collages. I had no experience in art, I didn’t even know what collage art was, but I had a phone, and I started blending and putting images together. I remember that it made me so relaxed to create artwork; I used to create four or five artworks a day and post them.”
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So, how did Sara start making collages? She simply downloaded an art app on her phone and began experimenting. Sara made her first post on Instagram and received 23 likes. Those 23 people — “my special people,” as she fondly recalls to ELLE — became a springboard for her creative journey.
Thus, her journey began. Sara works with crystals because they hold deep significance in her culture as a South Asian. Crystals are a common part of everyday life. Additionally, Sara's grandmother used to collect Swarovski figurines back in the ’70s and ’80s. As a child, Sara wasn't allowed to touch those pieces, no matter how mesmerising they seemed.
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Sara is a digital artist who utilises AI to create her crystal works. She adds glitter anywhere she wants — on cats, dandelions, cities, burgers, ice cream, backpacks, bathrooms, toilet paper — you name it.
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In 2018, she received an invitation from NOW Gallery in London to create something physical. The result was her first installation titled “The Great Supper” in 2019 — a dinner table entirely covered with millions of crystals. Not only the table but also the food on it was made of crystals.
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