Nargis Naqvi | Skating in Diriyyah

Nargis Naqvi is a Saudi Canadian artist with a South Asian ethnicity. She grew up in Saudi Arabia, got her education in the United States in Business, Interior Design and Photography and moved to Canada with her husband and one child in 1999. Her passion for the arts started in grade school and her father indulged her with the large canvases and oil paints. Her focus is usually the life of women and often you’d see a clay pot or two in her paintings. The clay pot depicts ‘life’ as it carries water. She loves creating flowers with textures and often spins her own imagination onto them. She has exhibited in over 25 exhibitions, has had one solo exhibition. She has two public art pieces: ‘Humanity First’ on a traffic box in Milton ON and a 15 foot banner for Emmanuel College at the University of Toronto representing Muslims.

My inspiration for this painting comes from my life growing up in Riyadh,in the heritage town of Diriyyah. Living in the university compound often found skateboarding, life felt free and fun. The heat of the desert didn't bother anyone when they were on their skates with abayas flowing behind them.