Zayn Qahtani Bahraini, b. 1997

Working across drawing, painting, and sculpture, Qahtani constructs encrypted relics for the present age – sculptural sanctuaries that hold both ancestral memory and speculative future. Rooted in grief, ritual and transformation, her works function as talismanic portals where the ancient and the futuristic, the personal and the universal, converge.

Her practice is defined by a radical approach to materiality: papers are pulped from Bahraini date palms, bioplastics derived from plants, and pigments are borne of metals, crystals and earth matter. Through a process of transmutation, Qahtani stages a dialogue between tradition and innovation to form animistic relics that feel simultaneously primordial and visionary. Each work stands as both intimate offering and universal archetype, inviting the viewer to enter a world where matter transforms into myth.

Qahtani’s works have been exhibited internationally at Abu Dhabi Art (Abu Dhabi, UAE), Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery (London & West Palm Beach, USA), VITRINE (London, UK), and Foundation Boghossian (Brussels, Belgium). Her works are held in institutional collections including the Bunker Art Museum (USA), and the Ramzi & Saeda Dalloul Art Foundation (Lebanon). She has also been selected for residencies at the Sixi Museum (China), Festus RCA x Standpoint (London), and PLOP Residency (London).

Educated at the Royal College of Art (MA Sculpture), with additional training at the Royal Drawing School (London, UK), and a BA in Fashion Design from the Royal University for Women (Manama, Bahrain), Qahtani draws on a cross-disciplinary foundation that situates her practice at the intersection of contemporary figuration, material innovation, and mythopoetic storytelling.