UAE childhood memories inspire Dubai student's colourful viral artwork

What do Oman Chips, Laban and a packet of Pofak Oman have in common? For most people who grew up in the UAE, they're more than just snacks. They're a little taste of childhood. For 21-year-old Aryan, they're also the stars of his latest viral painting.

A civil engineering student by day, Aryan has been painting since he was 14, finding an outlet for his creativity somewhere between mechanics, structures and solids. His work is often filled with vibrant shades of scarlet, navy blue and yellow, bringing together moments that hold personal meaning and a touch of nostalgia.

But it was his painting, Holding On To My Childhood, that struck a chord with people across generations.

The artwork features a little boy holding a collection of familiar childhood snacks, reimagined as helium balloons. Each one represents a memory, with the strings tying them all together as the child attempts to hold on to the days gone by.

The idea, as it turns out, came during a rather ordinary snack break.

“I was just having some of my favourite snacks. I had Oman Chips, I had laban, and then it suddenly clicked that I had a lot of these growing up,” Aryan tells Gulf News.

He remembers the post-sports ritual of gathering with friends for snacks, moments that seemed insignificant at the time but have since become some of his fondest childhood memories.

Starting with a blank canvas and his favourite snack, he gradually built the composition, eventually deciding to turn the treats into balloons. The little boy holding their strings became a visual representation of someone trying to hold on to his childhood.

And the title practically wrote itself.

Aryan initially thought the concept might be too personal for people to relate to. Instead, the response caught him completely off guard.

Messages poured in from people of different ages, from those in their late 30s and 40s to children as young as 10. Some shared lengthy messages about the memories the painting had brought back, while others had their own suggestions for snacks that deserved a place on the canvas.

“I thought this was something I created out of my experience and something very niche,” he says. “But I was shocked seeing how many people resonated with the painting.”

It seems everyone has a favourite childhood snack, whether it was a packet of Pofak Oman after school, a bottle of Almarai chocolate milk or a Mark-up shared with friends.

For Aryan, however, the connection goes beyond the food itself. He compares it to watching a film from childhood years later.

“We don't necessarily like those films because they're so well made. We like them because they were released at a point in our lives when we were small, naive and didn't know much. Whenever you watch them again, they take you back to that time.”

He believes the same applies to his painting. People aren't simply recognising the snacks; they're remembering the age they were when they enjoyed them, the friends they shared them with and the carefree days that came with growing up.

Aryan describes himself as largely self-taught, although he credits his high-school teacher, Prasad, for helping him develop the techniques behind his work.

When he first started painting, he enjoyed the process but didn't necessarily know how to create certain textures or effects. His teacher introduced him to some unconventional methods, including using aluminium foil to create bushes and sponges to paint skies.

His creative process, however, comes with one rather exhausting habit.

“I have this really bad habit of wanting to finish the painting on the exact day I start,” he admits.

That often means staying up until 4am or 5am, despite having classes as early as 6am the following morning. It might not be the most sustainable routine for a university student, but Aryan likes seeing a project through once he has started.

His inspiration also comes from moments outside the canvas. One painting, for instance, captures a hike with friends after a particularly stressful exam. Having taken a photograph of the day, he felt he could bring the memory to life more meaningfully through paint.

Another was inspired by the tunnel scene in the film The Perks of Being a Wallflower. After pausing the scene, he decided to recreate the moment on canvas.

“Every single painting you see of mine has the same concept,” he says. “I create stuff that I relate to and that, after experiencing or watching, I feel something about. That's what I try to convey through my paintings.”

The painting that got him out of his own head

Like many creatives, Aryan isn't immune to second-guessing his work. Deciding whether to share something publicly can sometimes be just as difficult as creating it.

He was particularly unsure about posting Holding On To My Childhood, having convinced himself that its concept might only make sense to him.

The response changed that.

“With this painting, it basically changed everything for me. It changed the whole idea of thinking twice before posting,” he says.

He also experimented with the way he presented the artwork online, filming himself flipping the painting to reveal the finished piece. It was a first for him, and one that encouraged him to show more of himself and his creative process.

The experience has made him more confident about putting his work out there, without worrying too much about whether everyone will understand it.

What's next? A little television nostalgia

Aryan isn't done revisiting childhood just yet. His next painting takes inspiration from the cartoons many of us grew up watching.

Having already sketched out the idea months ago, he is now working on a composition featuring familiar animated characters squeezed into a television screen, with some quite literally jumping out of it. At the centre is a little boy staring up at the enormous screen.

It's another familiar childhood ritual: snacks, cartoons and afternoons spent in front of the television.

Growing up in the UAE, Aryan says, has meant being surrounded by different cultures and ideas, giving young creatives the space to experiment and find inspiration. With people from more than 200 nationalities and a growing creative scene, he sees the country as a place that encourages artists to dream big and create something meaningful.

And if he could take one painting back in time to show his younger self, he already knows which one he'd choose.

It is the piece he enjoyed creating the most, one that reminds him of how much he has grown as an artist.

For someone who spends his university days studying how things are built, Aryan seems to have found his own way of constructing something a little different: memories that people can see themselves in.

And perhaps that's the magic of Holding On To My Childhood. You might not recognise every snack on the canvas, but chances are, you'll remember one that takes you right back.