“Art is the only way to run away without leaving home”. The talented Ingy ElShenawy uses the vintage childhood environment she grew up in to create home decor mainly out of mosaic with the support of her parents and friends. Tempo chatted with Ingy and discovered more about her vintage crafts.
TEMPO: Who is Ingy ElShenawy?
Ingy: I am an Egyptian doctor and artist. I came to Abu Dhabi to accompany my husband
TEMPO: How and when did you first learn of your love and passion for art? Was it something you really studied intensively or just a hobby?
Ingy: I’ve always had a passion for art since I was a little girl and it was my mom who helped me develop my skills by taking me for professional art courses. Unfortunately, I had to stop for a long time due to my study of medicine and my postgraduate studies plus being a working mother left me no time for my passion. When I came to Abu Dhabi I had a lot of free time so I decided to reignite my passion plus Abu Dhabi is like crafters’ heaven with all the supplies available.
TEMPO: How did you come up with your Instagram handle “Kirdan_Masry” ?
Ingy: Kirdan Masry was inspired by my Egyptian and Arabic heritage as the Kirdan is a piece of jewelry worn by Arab women.
TEMPO: How do you do your art and where do you get your inspiration from?
Ingy: I do many forms of arts but my main passion is decoupage and mosaic. Decoupage—is a craft that entails pasting cut-outs to an object and then covering them with coats of varnish. Mosaic is the art of creating images with an assemblage of small pieces of different materials and it was used on religious buildings in early Islamic art. I’m inspired by the diversity of cultures in Abu Dhabi a city that embraces people from different backgrounds who live all together in peace which made me feel a need to see the beauty around me even in the simplest of things.
TEMPO: Do you have a specific kind of Is there a subject that you love to cover? If you have one- why is that so?
Ingy: I have two main courses that I follow which are the Arabic, Islamic and Egyptian culture revival with a modern twist as I feel this helps me stay rooted to my culture in a world where everything is changing at a very fast pace. The second one is giving I also like to give new objects the vintage old look as I really love old things.
TEMPO: How did people around you react when they first saw your work? Did your parents support you?
Ingy: My friends’ reaction was positive. None of them thought that the pieces were not store bought and that was so encouraging that I decided to spread my products. Of course, my main supporter was my mother. The decision to spread my products was made with the help of my dearest friends Maha Shabayek and Eenas Alsheakh who stood by me until I was able to participate in my first bazaar.
TEMPO: Have you done other jobs than being an artist?
Ingy: I’m originally a doctor with both masters and a medical doctorate degree from the Faculty of Medicine Cairo University, but currently on a leave of absence.
TEMPO: Which artists inspire you?
Ingy: My main inspiration is my mothers’ art as she does lovely stitch-work. I also love Patti Elhof who is a decoupage expert that I learned so much from
TEMPO: What is your dream project and goal?
Ingy: My dream project is furniture flipping which is taking old pieces of furniture and changing up their look into something completely different. My goal of doing this is to help people learn to make use of what they already have, making them fall in love again with their possessions and most importantly at an affordable price.
TEMPO: How can people get in touch with you? Any social media accounts?
Ingy: Currently the only way to get in touch with me and see my work is through my Instagram kirdan_masry where you can find more about the events I’m participating at.
TEMPO: Finally, What is your message to young artists in their early steps?
Ingy: My message to them is to follow their passion and to try hard, don’t be afraid to make mistakes that is how you learn and search for ways to make affordable art to spread beauty all around and finally valuable doesn’t mean expensive.
