My talent for fine arts was nurtured by my family. I've been painting and drawing since I was five years old. My mother, Aisha Jackson who is English, has a great sense of visual orientation. My grandparents, too, were fond of art and always encouraged me to draw and paint. My paintings were appreciated by my teachers at school when I was around eight and I knew I had it in me to be an artist.
I remember watching a television show about Picasso several years ago and I was so struck by the masterpieces he had created that I felt extremely distraught with my own work. But my parents believed in my talent and supported me. They convinced me that I could do better. Their words truly helped me get over that short phase in my life.
My father, the late Ganem Al Suwaidi, was my greatest supporter. He was a lover of arts. When I was nine he enrolled me in an art course at the Cultural Foundation in Abu Dhabi during the summer vacation. I attended the class with adults and was the youngest in the group doing serious still-life and illustrations.
It was an amazing experience. That shaped my work and I continued to hone my skills at school and college.
I did a Bachelor of Visual Communications at the American University of Sharjah and I am thankful that the course was very structured and rigid because it prepared me for the graduate programme in studio art at the American University in Washington DC that I completed in 2005.
I tasted so much freedom of expression in my art course. My work is more spontaneous than preconceived. My work has evolved from transfer prints incorporating back-to-front Arabic script to figurative sculptures with letters carved into them, to bright, almost abstract-looking paintings with flowing lines.
I lost my father to cancer just before I left for the US. I was heartbroken and dejected and thought I would never be able to paint again. In America, my teacher Carol Goldberg was a great help. She told me how she had started painting after her father had died and we bonded over our grief. She helped me come to terms with my pain.
Many people found it strange that I was going to the US to study art and not science. At the time all my friends were going to the West to pursue courses in banking, finance, economics... When I returned in 2005, there weren't many openings in my field and I joined Dubai Holding, a large Dubai Government conglomerate that owns many high-profile developments and investments, as an assistant.
In 2008, I was invited to be one of the founding members of the Dubai Cultural and Arts Authority. It is aimed at establishing our city as a vibrant, global metropolis that shapes culture and arts in the region and the world. It was a great experience and that inspired me to pursue a Master of Arts in curating for contemporary design from Kingston University, affiliated with the Design Museum London in 2008 to 2009.
I have participated in group shows in Dubai at Bastakiya and the Courtyard Art Gallery. I have had a lot of exposure since then. I have been working as an artist for the last two years and have had two group shows in London, which were well-received. These shows led to a solo show in Mayfair. In the beginning I was working out of an apartment and now I have a studio in Abu Dhabi.
All my paintings are drawn from my own life experiences. In a way, each is a self portrait depicting an emotion or the result of a host of emotions that I may have felt at some stage in life. Just about anything in my life can act as a muse - from an odd encounter to a piece of music I heard, to my own voice deep inside me.
Quick questions
One dream...
To be able to continue doing all that I've being doing right now. And to have a house on the beach.
Your favourite piece of work in international art.
Anish Kapoor's Leviathan, which was recently displayed during the Paris art show.
Your favourite artist and why?
[French artist Edgar] Degas. I love theatre and ballet and he is known for his paintings of ballerinas and dancers.
One work you want to create.
A sculpture. I am working on a three-dimensional work of art.
