Artist, writer and director Sarah Bahbah makes art that deeply connects with her audience.
RENÉE BATCHELOR: Your images are like stories and vignettes captured in stills. At times they feel like very private thoughts and intimate moments that we, the audience are almost voyeuristically looking in on. When did you first start creating your art in its current form?
SARAH BAHBAH: I draw my inspiration from my own experiences. I spend a lot of time reflecting, and my work is based off my inner dialogue during these times of reflection. I sort of store all these emotions until I am ready to handle them, and then it hits me like a wave. I will sit for hours and days, just conceptualising and writing. One line after the other, I peak and release all the energy that I have been nursing.
The difficult process is working through my experiences, and really allowing myself to process the pain. But each time, I learn more about the power that comes with taking control of the things that have happened to you. I truly believe in my art and my work, and the reception is always so warming and uplifting. Because of this, the more I honestly open up, the more I grow in confidence to live this way every day.
RB: Your images have a very distinctive mood and style, in terms of the staging, costumes, props, and lighting. How did you go about developing your style and do you work with a particular team?
SB: It has taken me 10 years of practice to develop my signature style. My expression is born from a deeply personal reflection and meditation of my experiences. Alongside this, I use a lot of technical aspects to manifest the colours and feelings that I have realised during my process of reflection. This has made my style distinctly my own, even if I were to directly show someone my process, my style would be impossible to imitate.
Bu hikaye T Singapore: The New York Times Style Magazine dergisinin May 2019 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye T Singapore: The New York Times Style Magazine dergisinin May 2019 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
Look At Us
As public memorials face a public reckoning, there’s still too little thought paid to how women are represented — as bodies and as selves.
Two New Jewellery Collections Find Their Inspiration In The Human Anatomy
Two new jewellery collections find their inspiration in the human anatomy.
She For She
We speak to three women in Singapore who are trying to improve the lives of women — and all other gender identities — through their work.
Over The Rainbow
How the bright colours and lively prints created by illustrator Donald Robertson brought the latest Weekend Max Mara Flutterflies capsule collection to life.
What Is Love?
The artist Hank Willis Thomas discusses his partnership with the Japanese fashion label Sacai and the idea of fashion in the context of the art world.
The Luxury Hotel For New Mums
Singapore’s first luxury confinement facility, Kai Suites, aims to provide much more than plush beds and 24-hour infant care: It wants to help mothers with their mental and emotional wellbeing as well.
Who Gets To Eat?
As recent food movements have focused on buying local or organic, a deeper and different conversation is happening among America’s food activists: one that demands not just better meals for everyone but a dismantling of the structures that have failed to nourish us all along.
Reimagining The Future Of Fashion
What do women want from their clothes and accessories, and does luxury still have a place in this post-pandemic era? The iconic designer Alber Elbaz thinks he has the answers with his new label, AZ Factory.
A Holiday At Home
Once seen as the less exciting alternative to an exotic destination holiday, the staycation takes on new importance.
All Dressed Up, Nowhere To Go
Chinese supermodel He Sui talks about the unseen pressures of being an international star, being a trailblazer for East Asian models in the fashion world, and why, at the end of the day, she is content with being known as just a regular girl from Wenzhou.