NUR Aimi Athirah Abdul Aziz has a significant goal: she wants to start her own art studio.

The 24-year-old won first place in an art competition hosted in conjunction with the Uptown Cat VIII 2022 held at Gallery A, Cat Museum in Kuching North City Hall (DBKU) on yesterday (Oct 30).

This, she said, could be a kick-start for her to make a name for herself in the arena, hoping to join international competitions in future.

Since she was young, she has been drawn to arts with sculpture more of her forte than drawing.

“I used to be quite interested in drawing when I was little.

“But as I got older, I realised that canvas painting and other forms of sketching weren’t really my thing.

“Then I had the opportunity to participate in this event which was totally different from what I often created.

“I took the challenge to finish the artwork even though it was really last-minute,” she told New Sarawak Tribune and Suara Sarawak.

For the competition, she was able to create artwork with the theme “Meow Gemilang.”

She said she used collage, dry clay and acrylic as her medium.

“Because this was a last-minute assignment for me, I sought advice from family and friends on what I should do.

“Of course, I’m struggling because I’ve been overburdened with my own tasks and other work.

“However, I managed complete it in one day,” said the Sibu-born.

Nur Aimi is currently pursuing her master’s degree in fine art at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas).

Throughout her studies, she said, she was introduced to other forms of art.

“Other fine art courses, like those in photography, metal art, and ceramics, are available at Unimas.

“I started to fall in love with ceramics at that point. Learning is far more exciting than doing things like drawing,” she said.

She was gifted artistically from birth and always scored As in art classes.

She discovered her interest on her own, taking inspiration from great artists like Pablo Picasso and Mr. Doodle.

She was particularly fond of doodle art, she said, which allowed for creative expression.

“I love doodle artwork. Any artwork an artist creates makes it plain to the viewer what they are expressing.

“It is a form of free-form expression that offers freedom on a medium. Most doodle art is relaxing and calming to those who view it.”

Nur Aimi said that her parents initially didn’t really support her decision to pursue her ambition of pursuing art.

However, she said her parents eventually let her do things that made her happy. And she is happy with art.

To some, art work is useless, holding no future. But art does have value.

But she asserted that art must be promoted, especially local talent, to a global scale.

On the same note, she finds it in her heart to continue her master’s degree research in art and to conduct additional research in the field.

As such, she said she hopes that people will stop grumbling about art because it can also generate income.

“People might look for their hidden skills throughout the creative process.

“Although not everyone is a skilled artist, it is nevertheless good to try.

“You may start your own painting business without having to be a painter,” she said.