Nur Ghaina Gallery

I make drawings of memories from the past and present experiences living in Switzerland, Scotland and Malaysia. I am fascinated with the idea of possessing a memory. To have a memory is what we all have in common. I believe that without it, life is filled with emptiness. We transform a memory through words or photographs. A more unconventional and abstract way of transforming memories are through drawings.

The way I work is from thinking in my mind of a specific place and directly putting it on paper or canvas. There is no source material that I work from. Therefore, the drawings can be more of a non-existing or made up place. However, they do have some personal connections with the fusing of the various places which have different connections with different cultures that I have experienced.

Having traveled constantly by plane, seeing the view from a small window frame of the plane has influenced me in the making of my art. The memory drawings which I transform into aerial views show a broader sense of space, depth and flow. It gives the whole composition more reason to appreciate when seeing things from a distance. The composition and colour are made depending on the size of the paper or canvas rather than making it look in a realistic way.

Born: 1984

Education:
2002 - 2006 : BA(Hons) Drawings and Painting, 2.1 (Upper Division); Edinburgh College Of Art, Scotland
2000 - 2002 : Scottish Highers(3) and A-Level(1); St. George’s School for Girls, Edinburgh, Scotland
1995 - 2000 : IGCSE(7); St. George’s School; Montreux, Switzerland
1991 - 1995 : Chinese Junior School; Chong Hwa School, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Selected Exhibitions:
2007 : The 12th Annual Exhibition of the Society of Art Imagination; Mall Galleries, London, England

2006 :
- Young Turks; Atticsalt; Edinburgh, Scotland
- Celeste Art Prize 2006 (One of 30th Finalists); The Wall, Dray Walk, Old Truman Brewery, London, England
- The Gilchrist Fisher Award 2006 (One of six finalists); Rebecca Hossack Gallery, London, England

2005 : A5 Project Christmas Exhibition; PEACOCK Visual Arts, Aberdeen, Scotland

Group Exhibitions:
2006:
- Final Year Degree Show; Edinburgh College of Arts, Edinburgh, Scotland
- Students Exhibition 2006; Royal Scottish Academy Building, Edinburgh, Scotland
- January Exhibition 2006; Edinburgh College of Arts, Edinburgh, Scotland
- Winter/Christmas - PORTRAIT 04/05/06; Edinburgh College of Arts, Edinburgh, Scotland

2005 : January Exhibition 2005; Edinburgh College of Arts, Edinburgh, Scotland
2002 : A-Level Art and Design Show; St. George’s School for Girls, Edinburgh, Scotland

Awards:
2005 : Andrew Grant Bequest Award for Drawing and Painting; Edinburgh College of Arts of Imagination, London, England
2002 : Greyfriars Prize for Drawing and Painting; St. George’s School for Girls, Edinburgh, Scotland

Publications:
2006 :
- Artists and Illustrators London; November 2006, Issue 242
- Final Year Degree Show 2006 Catalogue and Brochure; Edinburgh College of Arts, Edinburgh, Scotland
- Celeste Art Prize 2006 Catalogue
- The Gilchrist-Fisher Award 2006 Catalogue

2002 : St. George’s School for Girls Chronicle 2002