Zayn Qahtani is a multidisciplinary artist. Her work sways between what is seen and what is felt, compiling a personal mythology along the way. Drawing on ancient cultures and nature’s diverse ecosystems, Zayn forms visual stories which seem to exist in the twilight zone - too distorted to be real, too familiar to be a dream.
Her current practise explores the concept of animism, the gift-giving of a living soul to inanimate objects. Seeing the act of creation and destruction as an alchemical ritual, Zayn often works with materials borne of reincarnated sources. Pigments from plants and minerals, recycled bioplastics and papers made of tree matter, weave together with spells of poetry and pain in an unorthodox dance, binding each object with a life of its own.
Zayn Qahtani (b. 1997, Bahrain) is based between Manama, BH and London, UK. She recently completed The Drawing Intensive at the Royal Drawing School and holds a BA in Fashion Design from The Royal University of Women, BH (2019). Awards include the YSA ‘21 Selected Artist + Honorary Grant from ATHR Gallery, SA (2021).
Recent shows include Angels In Purgatory (VITRINE, London, UK), MENART Fair (HUNNA, Brussels, Belgium), Otherlands (Black White Gallery, London, UK), I Felt That (The Tub, London, UK), Summer Auction (Art On A Postcard, London, UK), Serendipity (MIA Art Collection, Dubai, UAE), Charta (Fortnight Institute, New York, USA), and Chorus (Arusha Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland). Her work is held in public collections including Soho House, Dalloul Art Foundation and The Ned, and has been in publications such as Art Maze Magazine and Vogue Arabia.