Qansa Omar’s healing artistic practice continues to create a platform for ideas, as her intuitive abstract compositions focus on identity, mental health, culture, and Black experiences. When Qansa is not creating vivid abstract paintings, she applies her artistic talents to illustrations, taking inspiration from conversations and lived experiences, and utilising text as a visual element in an arrangement. I spoke to Qansa to learn about her creative process, inspirations, and how she is establishing her artistic practice by merging Islamic geometry with western abstraction.

NAHUEL CONTRERAS How did studying at Norwich University of the Arts shape your approach to art? QANSA OMAR As a student, I found London to be overwhelming. To develop my style and voice I needed somewhere calmer, and Norwich was the ideal place, quieter and closer to nature. My time in NUA gave me the space and resources to further my abstract work and graphic design. It taught me to think like an artist with autonomy. NC Who or what are your biggest influences, and how do they impact your practice? QO De Stijl - (The Style) is my biggest influence. It is abstraction at its finest, reducing everyday forms into universal elements. As for artists, I would have to say, Matisse and Braque. I'm excited by their use of colour, form, and brushwork. I went to Paris to see their work in person and it was sublime. They push me to create more interesting work. NC What are some of your career highlights? QO The main ones would be, seeing the 'Boy and a Bike' cover on Spotify, and my mother explaining my work to my aunties at my art exhibition. Another highlight was at the S.M.I.L.E-ing BOYS Project exhibition when one of the boys recognized his words in an illustration and called his friends over, it was so cute watching them gush over it. NC Your series of surrealist works for the S.M.I.L.E-ing BOYS Project, research-led mental well-being project for Black boys in London in collaboration with poet and artist Kay Rufai, utilised quotes and portraiture as references. How did the use of text in the composition of the way that you are depicting your subjects affect the building of the piece? QO Just after reading a few sentences, I was excited to get started. Their words were so honest and sincere. I felt like I knew them, they reminded me of my friends and family. Whether they were comparing jollof [rice] or barbers, they were funny and insightful. I just wanted to bring their words to life and capture their sense of humour. Drafting these pieces was a challenge, but one I cannot wait to do again. NC The artwork for Kay Rufai’s poetry album, Boy and a Bike (The Miseducation of Black Youth), featured the use of free-gestured explosions of colour, exploring the limits of balance and harmony to convey a narrative. What was the process and how did you ensure your art reflected Rufai’s poetry? QO As Kay explained the album; I realized how much I related to it. I did some sketches and pushed myself deeper into my notes, dwelled on those feelings, and expressed them as childlike as I could. Then I discussed my draft with Kay and took notes before finalizing the colour, line, texture, and composition. Relatively speaking this design came quite naturally. NC The element of ambiguity is one of the most definitive characters of abstract art. With your abstract paintings, are you thinking about your creation as a total painting, an outcome with a definitive narrative, or is it about expressive power? QO I would say it's more about expressive power. Even I don't know what it's going to look like. Painting is a process of layering and taking away colour and texture. It feels like a back and forth between my actions and the painting itself. This back and forth continues until the painting has reached its potential. NC The abstract paintings that you exhibited as part of a collective that celebrates Somali women artists for International Women’s Day at the Battersea Power Station combined Islamic geometry and western abstraction. Tell me more about how you merge these influences to continually challenge what a painterly composition can be? QO Combining Islamic Art and Western Abstraction felt like a perfect metaphor for my identity. Despite their differences, the essentials are the same, colour and form. I used that as the foundation for this project. With a foundation set, I explored the conflicts between the styles. The similarities and differences between them are what made an exciting composition. My job was to guide these ideas as they harmonized and clashed. NC How does your process of creating abstract paintings, differ to your illustrations? QO Well, I have a specific process of making, no matter the discipline. I start by playing with ideas and sketching. After, I have an intensive couple of hours to create. Then I return to the work after a break to observe what I've made with a more critical eye. Figure out what needs to be added, taken out, and what seems unnecessary. The only difference is that when I'm painting the stakes are higher, if I make a mistake I can't erase or undo it. So, I have to make sure I don't overwork the painting. NC Many of your abstract paintings are an interpretation of your personal mental health experiences- has the idleness and isolation as a result of lockdown caused an introspective analysis for you as an artist? QO Not really. Lockdown was all right at first but the longer it went on the harder it was to be productive. The idleness made me restless, so I tried to keep busy. I returned to my past hobbies like sewing, tie-dying, and felting. This encouraged me to rethink my approach to texture in my design and do more things like drawing for catharsis instead of ‘work’ and that was such a relief. NC Is it your intention to inform political and cultural messages? QO Pretty much. Being political isn't exactly a choice for me - I am a first-generation immigrant, Muslim, Black, Somali, and Female (A UKIP nightmare.) It is a privilege to not think about politics. It is hard being Black and having to protest that your life matters. It is even worse being Muslim with the ethnic cleansing of the Uighurs, the Rohingya, and Muslims in India. So, we must be informed if we are going to create change. The world is pretty shit, but my only job is to make sure those coming after me have it better than I did. NC You are currently working on a series of paintings called, ‘Raspberry’. What can we expect? QO I was listening to Raspberry Beret by Prince and it got me thinking about what raspberry looks like as colour, and that developed into using raspberry as a metaphor for life. It's sharp, sour yet somehow sweet. I began colour testing and recreating that feeling visually. I am still on this journey, but you can expect more complex abstraction and more colour!