The Art of Sita
I first met Bahrain-based Dutch artist Sita Dotinga at Art Abu Dhabi last year. From the beginning, I was intrigued by her very Indian-sounding name, and it turns out that Sita is a Dutch name as well. Not having come across many Dutch artists in the region, I welcomed the opportunity to know her better.
Style
As striking as her work, the tall and vivacious Sita mostly displays her art in Bahrain. Her style is extremely colorful and has layers of depth that one can spend some time discovering. Sita had moved around a lot with her husband before settling in Bahrain where she finally got the opportunity to focus on her passions. There, she is quite popular for her lovely and often extremely honest (read: funny) portrayal of camels. Funky camels, funny camels, grumpy camels and even more camels; she has them all.
Inspirations
Often deriving inspiration from nature, Sita likes to paint flowers, abstract and semi-abstract artworks. She also mentions her works are influenced by the world around her and her experiences. In her recent artworks, Arabic elements have popped up as well. Being versatile with her medium, Sita paints with watercolours, acrylics and oils. With a background in textile art, she has a particular fondness for textures which can be observed in her latest works.
Philosophy
Every artist has their own way of working, and Sita’s unique way is to take pictures of people and places in order to use them later for paintings. She is not an artist who paints every day and prefers to paint with a goal in mind, like an exhibition. One of things that I really liked about her is the apparent lack of ‘the need to be a commercial artist’. Not that I have anything against commercial artists, but I find it refreshing that artists even today paint to share their art and want their art to be in many homes across the world. In order to do so, they often sell at rates that are lower than market rates.
It is my sincere hope that those who have bought Sita’s paintings realize what they have with them. Artists like her are a true gift to the community. This region is blessed to have so many talented artists from around the world that bring so much joy and diversity with them.
By Neena Rai Follow me on twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/NeenaRai
