Artist of the Day: Interview with Yousef Al Qaoud

By Ali Al Yousifi

Title: Bindi, ink on paper, 18 x 27 cm

               Yousef Al Qaoud is a Kuwaiti artist; he graduated from Kuwait University’s College of Architecture in 2012. Yousef’s paintings have been recently exhibited in the Dar Al Funoon 3^rd Affordable Art Show: Young Artists Edition. To see more of Yousef’s work, including painting, pen on paper, digital art, and sketches, you can follow him on Instagram @ysfqdart. 

Why do you do art?

Because I do believe in the importance of an artistic outlet in everyone’s daily life. Life can either get too serious or redundant; you do the same thing day in and day out. And for me, it’s a nice creative escape.

Title: Mother Nature, acrylic on canvas, 50 x 80 cm

So it's for personal benefit…

I do art for personal benefit; I don’t do it to sell; I don’t do it for galleries; I do not do it for fame or recognition. All these are positives, they’re all additives, if I happen to get one of these things: whether I get recognition, or be asked to show my work in a gallery, or have someone be interested in purchasing my work, that is a plus, but first and foremost I create art for myself.

You said you do art for personal reasons… but why don’t you have a public reason, I mean what do you want your paintings to do… do they have any agenda at all?

Let me tell you, for example in the latest exhibition of Dar Al Funoon, 3^rd Affordable Art Show: Young Artists Edition, a woman came and looked at one of my paintings and she said, “I know that there’s a subliminal message, and I’m trying to find out what it is, and don’t tell me!”.  And she was thinking and thinking, “There has to be something, and I’m trying to figure it out”. And then she said that she’s seen a lot of my work and, “I get the sense of subliminal messages”. And I said,” If that’s what you see, then that’s what you see”. But I don’t actually do that, I do not try to send a message.

Title: Woman, acrylic on canvas, 80 x 120 cm; This is the painting the woman was looking at.

               I paint based on emotion and where I am today. For me it’s all about the now, if I’m angry, the result will probably look like something you’ve painted while angry; if I am feeling in love that day, then I’ll paint something with color or with loving emotions, and I’d like to think that that translates [to viewers]. That’s pretty much why it’s personal for me, because it’s an extension of what I’m feeling. And if other people can relate to them, then that makes me happy.

 So it’s personal, for you, first and foremost, but if it brings other people pleasure then that’s better…

And not necessarily pleasure, if it brings you pain and you’re a person that flourishes with pain, then by all means, to each his own; if you feel strongly towards it, then for me, it’s successful art.

If you wanted to choose a verb for your paintings… for example, are they supposed to entertain, or to scare, or to shock, or bring joy…

               To relate to and comfort.  Because like I said, if you are someone that is comforted by pain, and you see something that expresses anger or pain or misery, and that makes you feel that you’re not alone, and you can relate to this painting; this is what gives me joy.

Title: Time, oil on canvas, 80 x 100 cm

Ok, now subject versus technique… why do you choose your subjects, and why do you paint the way you paint?

               For now, its faces, and not even full bodies. As an observer and not as the artist, I actually like relating to faces: I like giving them a name and I like creating these scenarios [for them]. So when I paint, I want you to come and look at my painting and I want you to project your own feelings, memories, and experiences onto that painting. I like it when people create their own scenarios for these people that I paint. I have [scenarios of] mine, but I will not impose mine on you.

But why do paint with this technique/ style? I mean you can make your paintings more realistic, and you can make them less realistic…

The reason I don’t do photorealism is for one: I will fail miserably, two: there is a difference for me between an artist and a painter. An artist is someone who creates from a deep place and takes you into a deeper place when you interact with their work. Why would I want to do something that a camera can do best?  [With photorealism] there is no room for interpretation, there is nothing to dwell on, there is no room for emotional or cognitive depth.

Title: Adorned, acrylic on canvas, 80 x 120 cm

You say that photorealism takes something away from expression, but that’s only one end of the spectrum: to be completely photorealistic. Why don’t you try to go in the other direction with more abstraction? Or maybe it’s just an aesthetic choice…

               It is an aesthetic choice to some extent, but there is a reason behind it. Photorealism is too extreme; and being completely abstract: drawing a line and circle and a triangle, and saying, “this is a man dying” is too abstract.

               I don’t do completely abstract paintings because for one: I don’t see myself doing that, two: I’m not in a mind state where I can do that, and three: painting the way I paint is still something new to me. I only started painting in this way three months ago. I still don’t know how much I can do in this window of painting. And once I get to a stage where I say: this is all I can do here, and there is nothing more I can do, then I’d probably take a break and try to come up with something new.

Title: Dadra, acrylic on canvs, 40 x 80 cm

Title: BirdFlu, mixed media, 50 x 50 cm