-Najah Tamrin
GORE MAKEUP! What does that remind you of? Every time I imagine gore or sfx makeup, I immediately get goose bumps. Not only is it “scary”, it also takes lots of talent to do them. Let's meet one of our former students, Sohani Matin.
Sohani Matin is a self-taught artist who started face painting at 12, and wall painting at 10. According to her, she was terrible at it at first, but kept doing it since it was therapeutic, and eventually got better at it.As a kid, she really wanted her walls to be different coloured rather than boring old off-white. Since her parents wouldn't change the wall colour she decided to do something about it. She mentions, "So finally, when I was 10, I took a brush and some poster colour and painted fairies and flowers on my walls." Being a ten year old, I bet it took a lot of dedication to start painting her walls out of nowhere with no experience. That was the beginning of her journey of wall painting.
For the face art, she has always been a lover of gore and horror. Sfx gore on movies seemed really fascinating to her and it intrigued her to understand how they would do it. Besides, as a kid she used to be obsessed with her mom's make-up products. Just like all of us, she would mess around with her mom's palettes. One day, when she was 12, she took some of her mom's products and painted herself to look like a scary Ventriloquist's dummy.
Starting art from a young age helps you in many ways. It can help you find a hobby that you love or be one of the daily to-do list things. Also, as Sohani mentions, it can be therapeutic as well.
If you are a kid who started doing art mostly from your own interests, it is such a great advantage for you. You get plenty of time to improve and learn a lot of new things. Art isn't only about painting or sketching, it is about perspective. How one sees an item or an action. Being an artist, you get to decide what you put on the paper for others to see. As creators, we have such an amazing opportunity to put out our thoughts and emotions through art.
Her inspirations are some well-known artists like Frida Kahlo, Van Gogh, Picasso, and many more historical artists like them.
We all procrastinate at least once a day or almost every day. Of course I could not refrain myself from asking her if she ever procrastinates in the middle of an artwork. She answered with, "Of course I do. This one time I painted the Hogwarts castle all over this huge wall. It should've taken me about a week, but I took 6 months to do it. Sometimes I start a sfx make-up, and stop midway. You can sometimes find me in my room with my lips half stitched or one eyeball hanging from my eye socket (make-up) watching Netflix."
“I usually start painting whenever I have academic pressure as procrastination. Other than that, I paint whenever I'm anxious or going through a rough time; it's very therapeutic for me.”
I asked her whether she has any future plans related to art or not. It’s pretty nice to have future plans and set goals accordingly. She plans to work with the cinematic industry as an sfx artist for some time. It's on her bucket list to work for the film industry at least for a month. She also plans to work as a teacher in schools for underprivileged children and her initial plan is to paint all over the classrooms to keep the kids motivated and inspired. It is an incredible idea to work for the underprivileged children, especially when the intention is to cheer them up and to let them know to keep on going and never give up. A very commonly asked question, “Would you consider art as a profession?” Her answer was pretty simple yet interesting, “Nope, I would not consider art as a profession. It's a fun side hobby for me, and if I make it professional, it would get emotionally draining for me.” To all the artists out there, this is sort of relatable. When we pick something up as a profession, it obviously becomes “professional.” Personally, I think that taking creativity and turning it into a profession takes a whole different type of mindset. It’s because art won’t be a “getaway” anymore, and instead it’ll be a constant in your life.
In 5 years, she hopes to see herself still painting her walls and making sfx prosthetics. “Hopefully making the world a brighter and more colourful place, and I really wish I could work in the film industry.”So far we got to know a few things about Sohani Matin, how she started her journey as an artist, grew as an artist, and about her future plans. She can be an inspiration to us and the little kids who are just starting to explore things around them. The children who are looking for something to do while sitting at home can look up to people like Sohani. We can get encouraged by her story and start something. It doesn’t only have to be art; it can be anything you want to do. So pick up a paint brush, some paints, and start tossing colours onto the paper!
Do follow her on Instagram @sohaniartss
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