One More Night in the City

I am Ishra, an artist based in Dallas, Texas. I work with oils and acrylics and the body of my artwork mostly consists of thick impasto texture with structured colors. I paint in a contemporary expressionist style whilst remaining true to representation. Complex city scenes and figurative subjects are my main interest where I strive for abstract realism with vibrant colors and intentional brushstrokes in numerous layers with those paintings. My first landscape and still life paintings were with oil pastels. I started my art journey with representational, almost hyper realistic in my approach. Following pastels, I worked with charcoals and colored pencils predominantly for realistic portraits. Whilst working mainly on commissioned portrait drawings, a yearning for more lucidness and movement grew within me. Inspired by the impressionist grand masters, I stepped out of my comfort zone and took a plunge with oils and acrylics. I had an ‘A-Ha’ moment ever since. My love for oil painting grew exponentially as I started to discover my own unique style with this medium. Laying thick paint with palette knives or leaving intentional brushstrokes, the possibilities were infinite. Having studied Architecture for my higher studies, I grew an intense interest towards the aesthetical aspects rather than the technical side of the discipline. Objects disappearing into obscurity when perspective came into play is the main incentive which I emphasize in my paintings. Having had the privilege of being widely traveled throughout my childhood as my father was a pilot, I developed a deep interest towards traveling that eventually led me to create various paintings depicting those settings. Exaggerating subdued colors into vivid hues, I take an abstract and eclectic approach with figurative subjects. With landscapes, I express the spirit of that environment through heavy texture to emphasize the structure and disposition, whether it is a small town or a busy street scene in a big city. Translating these extraordinary episodes onto my canvas, presents me with immense gratification.