Shahina Jaffer Artist & TEDx Speaker

Shahina Jaffer

ARTIST, ADVENTURER, THEORY TESTER & TEDX SPEAKER

I passionately believe that art should be an interactive experience that sends the audience on a visual journey to explore and opens their personal imagination and allows them to explore the depths of their own perspective.

My work explores the ubiquity of concealed imagery in the environment around us and in the arts, architecture, advertising, and nature.

I would say that my career started at the bright young age of three as a “technician” with my engineering father. Amazingly, I learned how to use a screwdriver before I could even write. I also played alongside my mother as she sewed, and soon that skill was added to my roster.

The big jolt towards Art came when I was five years old. I was in a terrible car accident, which I was fortunate to emerge from physically unscathed. Painting helped me heal from what I had witnessed by conveying what I couldn’t articulate in words – it was a wondrous, non-judgmental companion.

As a child I used to draw to pass the time in my family’s convenience store in Walton on Thames, Surrey. Mr. Payne, a local resident, and an avid art enthusiast told my mother that not only could he see that I had a natural affinity for art, but that I also had a talent that needed to be fostered. Mr. Payne taught me to paint landscapes in oil, acrylic, and gauche, and gave me books on Turner and Constable. His kind influence has remained with me. The lessons I learned from Mr. Payne still inform my work and were extremely helpful when I attended St. Martin’s School of Art.

Since then, creating art is a process of liberation and exploration. I make bespoke paint and I’ve mastered capturing the motion of the rain. I know how to use wind and air to assist the paint to naturally flow, as well as the distinctive imprints of the snow. The astrophysicist I spent time with taught me how to recognise the indicators of weather conditions, which I am now able to depict graphically in a series of more than 25 paintings called the natural collection.

The environment infused paintings convey feelings of harmony, love, serenity, and happiness, the same emotions I felt making the work. Research indicates that looking at a gorgeous painting, sculpture, or other artwork increases blood flow to the brain by as much as 10 percent, that’s the equivalent of looking at someone you love.

I love experimenting with different forms. I once discovered that I could paint while doing yoga poses, as I have been painting since childhood, I’m a confident painter and explored painting in the dark. The result was a painting I called “shadows in the dark,” which exceeded my highest hopes.

I participated in the Burning Man exhibition in 2020 and have exhibited all around the world, from London to New York to Mexico City. I firmly think that art can heal, and because of this, I have worked with numerous health organisations and charities, like BlindAid, to create programmes and events that highlight the unifying potential of creativity.

My work encourages and investigates the encounter between artist and observer by combining emotional intuition and empirical observation. Creative exploration, combined with extensive knowledge of human behaviour, pushes traditional boundaries, revealing a deeper meaning in my work that might otherwise go unnoticed. I describe my distinct point of view in an interactive TEDx talk titled “The Art of Perception.” I believe that art should be a participatory experience in which the viewer embarks on a personal journey.

My creative practice focuses on the exploration of movement, I created a technique that I have dubbed a ‘Reverse Jackson Pollock’ which is a gentle practice of allowing paint to flow freely and without interruption.

In November 2022, I will be participating in an Art auction called 10×10 London, this is Article 25’s signature fundraising event with prominent artists such as Banksy participating. Leading designers, painters, and architects also collaborate to produce works of art that give distinctive perspectives on the city’s ever-evolving landscape.

Style

It is said that the job of an artist is to make mundane forms irresistible. My artwork reflects nature abstractly and asks the spectator to construct their reading of it. Many of my pieces include subtle messages that can only be seen with thorough inspection. I fuse familiar techniques with Rangoli, an art form that originated in India. Rangoli are patterns made utilising components like coloured rice, coloured sand, quartz powder, or flower petals. A recent interest is thermochromics: the reversible alteration in colour that occurs when a chemical is heated or cooled.

My art transcends conventional boundaries and illuminates a deeper meaning that is simple to overlook at first glance by precisely combining imagination, nature, and science. I aim toward the abandonment of constraints and use layering and texture as a key component in my artwork to achieve this. The idea is to enlarge the image beyond the mind’s capacity and preconditioning and be more tactile and accessible to individuals with visual impairments.

My areas of expertise are observation and abstract art. My experience in consumer marketing has given me a deep understanding of human nature, and I particularly relate to Degas’ assertion that “art is not what you see, but what you make others see.” My artistic endeavours support and explore the interaction between the artist and the viewer.

Latest Project

Just Art 247 founded by Shahina, is on a mission. We showcase thought-provoking artwork, host interactive talks and lead community art projects. This is a partnership between Just Art 247 and 101 Harley Street.

101 Harley Street, Marylebone W1 – Provides a unique opportunity for a medical provider to benefit from a prestigious self-contained headquarters’ building in the heart of the Harley Street Medical Area.

At 101 Harley Street, Shahina Jaffer (the resident artist.) Her collection of artworks, Overtone, was deliberately crafted to foster social interactions, encourage calm, and inspire wonder while remaining accessible. The residency investigates how engaging with art in a typical treatment and counselling environment improves the experience.

Every exhibition held at 101 Harley Street will offer a visually stimulating experience that acknowledges that taking in art is a somatic, physical experience.

The intrinsic link between art and health

Shahina and her collaborators will put together exhibitions that explore the connection between art and health throughout the residency. There is no denying that a piece of art can completely change the feel of a space; the art shows at 101 Harley Street explore this. It is widely perceived by researchers that merely appreciating or observing art can improve your physical and emotional well-being.

Art at 101 offers a moment to pause

City living can be stressful, and it is often difficult to pause the overthinking, or escape the hustle and just relax. One method supported by science is to pause and take a close look at some artwork.

According to studies, observing, making, and engaging in art all help to make individuals feel less stressed, the services at 101 Harley Street include and relaxation treatments and are available at Atelier Aesthetics. (latelieraesthetics.co.uk)

A variety of art events and private tours will be held at 101 Harley Street with the goal of educating and inspiring those who want to take a break from their busy lives to experience more art.

The more time you spend analysing and contemplating art, the more you can stimulate both unconscious and conscious brain functions, doing this frequently actually increases your analytical and critical thinking skills in everyday life.

We want to immerse ourselves in the artwork rather than just find it beautiful. This placement results from a process called embodied cognition, in which the brain’s mirror neurons translate the action, movement, and energy you perceive in art into real emotions you may experience.

“A painting is not a picture of an experience, but is the experience.”― Mark Rothko

Each show at 101 Harley Street is an interactive experience and a personal visual journey; this is the guiding philosophy that underpins all the events.

Shahina Jaffer’s 21 artworks are part of the Overtone show at 101 Harley Street, which explores dreams, memories, presence recollections, identity, and symbolism in relation to the environment, healing, climate change, and industrialization. These works have strong social undertones and portrays an autobiographical story. The exhibition address’s themes like the relationship between people and how it affects how we view ourselves, as well as our neighbours, ancestors, and heritage. Overtone is about the interplay between the artist and their surroundings, with the audience as a vital element. Throughout the exhibition your perceptions will be challenged by the work’s curation, a debate will be sparked, and your own story will emerge.

We enjoy having Shahina’s artwork around 101 because we can feel the joy it radiates and the healing qualities that permeate it.

CEO, 101 Harley Street