Tara Sabz creates stories through her art.

Muhammad Yusuf, Features Writer

Project Art, the interactive initiative and community programme designed to provide Dubai’s best artists a free space to exhibit their work, has returned with Iranian painter Tara Sabz, who will display a range of her artworks. Hosted at Zabeel House by Jumeirah, The Greens, the three-week Project Art residency runs until November 18, with the self-taught artist displaying her watercolour-based art, which she says is predominantly inspired by daily life and the beauties of nature – scenes often neglected or ignored.

“I’m really excited to be part of Project Art, an initiative that has seen a range of amazing artists present their work,” said Sabz, who has participated in several exhibitions as well as in World Art Dubai 2022. “As someone who has loved and embraced art my whole life, I can’t wait to introduce this both to guests of the property and curious visitors.

“The community spirit at Zabeel House is famous within the local art scene and I think people are going to really enjoy learning more about water art while I complete my residency.” She is Iran born and based in Dubai, specialising in watercolour and mixed media art. She has been interested in painting since she was a child “and so far I have not neglected any opportunity to learn,” she affirms. After she began her art life, she took drawing and painting courses with well-known professors.

 Tara Sabz is a Dubai based artist.

She started with black and colour pencils and also made some hyper-realistic artworks. Hyperrealism is a genre of painting and sculpture resembling a high-resolution photograph. It is considered an advancement of photorealism by the methods used to create the resulting paintings or sculptures. The term is primarily applied to an independent art movement and art style in the United States and Europe that has developed since the early 1970s.

Shortly after, Sabz started oil painting and over the years, worked her way through and fell in love with watercolour and mixed media. She has held many watercolour classes where she felt she could share her art and skills. “I have never neglected any opportunity to teach and learn,” she reiterates. Due to her interest in watercolour, she continued her work as a watercolour artist. Later, she realised that as an artist, she should use every tool possible in artmaking. “Art is limitless”, she discovered.

Her inspirations are mostly her imagination, daily life and the beauties of nature - amazing offerings that we pass by without a second thought. The United Arab Emirates provided her a good opportunity to show her works to art lovers. She has since led an active life in the art scene of Dubai. “I think the best way to express feelings is through art,” she says. “The beauty of nature inspires me, and I use my imagination to depict the beauty of landscapes that we simply pass by in our daily lives.

“Observing the people and the world around me is one of the greatest motivations for me to create a story in my artwork. “I want people to question my works and themselves and wonder if there’s a story they should follow. I aspire to create the world in a different way that brings hope and excitement to people’s hearts and minds. I dream with my paintings and create a more beautiful world for life in them.”

She thanks Zabeel House by Jumeirah, The Greens, for offering her an opportunity to display her artwork with the aim of “creating unity for the community.” Through the painting Two Worlds Collided that is being displayed, she wants to express the thought that there will come a day when we surrender to the power of nature. Therefore, we would have to join forces with the earth and become one with it.

“It is one single force that is forever unified,” says Sabz. “This painting shows that we are all a part of nature. We are joined together. We are one.” She will conduct a live painting session in the lobby on November 4, enabling visitors to observe her work – and the process that creates it – up close. She will also be available to answer any questions on her journey and the unique elements of her painting style, while guests are able to purchase several of her artworks on site.

“Project Art is an initiative started at Zabeel House by Jumeirah, The Greens, to unite the art community and give talented artists a space to present their work to a diverse audience,” said Marcus Sutton, General Manager, Zabeel House by Jumeirah, The Greens. “With great success seen from our previous exhibitions, we are confident Tara’s unique water art will be a hit with both regular and new guests to the property. Local artists keen to be involved in future Project Art initiatives can register their interest by contacting Zabeel House by Jumeirah, The Greens, on 04 519 1111.

Born in Dubai, Zabeel House by Jumeirah, The Greens, is an eclectic hotel located in the heart of a vibrant neighbourhood, The Greens. With the claim of being high on design and low on complexity, the hotel offers expected basics and unexpected extras. As the hotel puts it, set in an upscale, casual environment, guests can also expect a touch of the instinctive hospitality “that has become second nature from the creators of the Burj Al Arab Jumeirah”.