May’s works express brighter side of life
Light, joyous side of life in ‘Live the moment’
This is the second and the last in a series of articles on May Abdullatif Al Saad, an outstanding young artist with a message.
SBy Lidia Qattan
elf discovery made May more keenly aware of an intellectual freedom she never did experienced before. The reaction, projected in her next works was startling. From a gloomy world of drama and pain in her previous works, May emerged with a new approach to life: it is the joy of living pure and simple.
“Live the moment.”seems to be the message in one of her works ablaze with light and the joyous side of life. Because “The Moment.”is all we have to treasure with our loved ones and to live with a purpose, hence we should make the best of it!
Living the moment would make us more human, more compassionate and less arrogant towards others. Living the moment is synonymous with living with zest and with purpose in harmony with others and with all living things.
In her canvasses the message is expressed in the emanation of the human spirit in the dance of life.
In recreating it through the dance the human spirit bursts free, if only for a moment, free from the tantrums of everyday living with its cultural, political, and economic pressures!
In becoming aware that all we have is the moment, we would be different — more loving, more compassionate, more caring towards those we love and more human towards others in general. We would not be so greedy, so self
‘Capturing the Moment’ paintings by Kuwaiti artist May Abdullatif Al Saad.
centered and arrogant. We would not waste the moment we have in regrets that make us miserable or in expectations that make us unhappy when thwarted.
Humanity has the ability not simply to live but to enjoy life, indeed the simplest communities closer to nature, unmarred by the sophistications of modern life do indeed enjoy the bliss of life, contented to live by their simple ways they are more happy than most of us.
Being happy they are also good natured, they are seldom cruel. On the contrary of those living in sophisticated society; torn by tension and worries, and programmed from birth to obey and serve some powerful authorities, they tend to become bitter, vicious and greedy.
May emphasized her message in the dance ingeniously concocted to capture “the moment.” she projects her belief in the betterment of humanity through the exercising of people’s individuality, which indoctrinations tends to repress through enforcing uniformity, but free spirits with a mind of their own try to resist. On the other hand she expresses the brighter side of life in the recreation of the human spirit through the rhythm of the music and the dance, which has been the first and most intimate expression of the human soul from prehistoric times to this day.
Sadness, grief and dark thoughts have no place in the celebration
Lidia Qattan
in a free spirit. Any one daring to do so finds himself in trouble with the authorities safeguarding their status quo.
Cultural, political and religious inculcations all have one thing in common — they all strive to created uniformity through obedience and negations of personal freedoms. Hence whenever there are political or religious conflicts of interest they instigate injustice, hate and untold human miseries.
Diversity is the secret of nature’s startling success and development from bacterial forms to humans; diversity and cooperation among different species of living things has led to the tremendous proliferation of life, spurring them to try new ways to avoid extinction when faced with by annihilation.
Human survival and development heavily depends on diversity, but the free spirits everywhere are fought and ostracized, especially in conservative countries, which incidentally are those most in need of their human potentials to spur their development.
Concerned
May Al Saad became seriously concerned with the human sag from the time her country was invaded by Iraq. At that time she was in Saudi Arabia with her family for the “Omra.” she saw the bewilderment of her people abroad in those circumstances and the spectrum of sudden uncertainty facing them was revealing their true nature. After the liberation she reflected her impression of those days in paintings, with which she joined an exhibition in 1993; from then-on she joined others exhibitions. In 1994, she became a member of the KFAS and an active member of the International Arts Society, Paris. She also became a founding member of the Kuwaiti Women Artists group.
Through the years May took part in many exhibitions — in the Sharjah Art Biennials, the Qurain’s Cultural Festivals and the collective exhibitions in Riyadh, Beirut, Yemen, Dubai, Jordan and Germany. In some of them she gained first prizes. Many of her works are in private collections: at the King Abdul Aziz Historical Center in Riyadh; at the private collections of HH Prince Khalid Al Faisal, of HH Amir Sultan Fahad Al Saud, and of HH Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammad Al Qassimi, Amir of Sharjah, besides at Diwan Al Amiri (Kuwait) and in other private collections.
Concluded