Interview with African Tribal Artist Khalai Jimase

 Through my art, I hope to change opinions across the world and to change the perception of African people and the African culture.

Khalai Jimase is a Riyadh based African tribal and portrait artist. She uses art to tell the story of her life and the people in it. I had an exclusive interview with her and she tells me about her journey navigating the art world and expressing her passion.

Interviewer: You identify yourself as an African tribal artist. What does that mean and how did it all start? Kindly give us a background about yourself.

Khalai: My name is Khalai Jimase. Everyone calls me KJ. I am an African tribal artist. That means that I paint portraits of African people with a lot of reference to African culture. I started professionally painting about 7 years ago. I’ve always been fascinated by faces so it came really naturally that I would just start to draw people’s faces. So I drew. I think everyone around me basically got a small portrait of themselves, And then it moved from pencil drawing to black and white paintings and then eventually, I decided to try a bigger size and I loved the size. I totally completely enjoyed the process of painting it large and it stuck.
Although, one thing I do have to mention is; when I moved to this country I experienced complete culture shock. This is a Muslim country so everything is different. But in reference to my artwork, I would leave the house and everything, the entire environment is devoid of color. The buildings are beige or glass. The men wear white robes, which is the traditional Arabic gear. The women put on black. So out on the streets, it’s beige, black and white. Even the cars. I would go 3 to 4 months before I would see a car that is not black or white. This is completely different from home where immediately you leave the house, different colors can be seen everywhere. The public transportation is colorful. The dresses that people wear, the buildings that people have put up are all really brightly colored. So when I started to paint my portraits large, I would put in color. This was my way of connecting back home.

Interviewer: Behind you, I see some beautiful collections. What do your portraits seek to communicate? What kind of message do you seek to communicate using your portraits?

Khalai: Through my art, I hope to change opinions across the world and to change the perception of African people and the African culture. I hope to portray us in a brighter and more positive light. I really do hope to instill the values of African culture upon the modern generations because a lot of modern people don’t really understand who we are as African people. So I hope to instill the values that we carry through my paintings.
I would also want to have a positive impact on our own sense of self-worth and well-being as African people. So when you see a portrait like this, it’s a picture. And when I begin to explain what it really is; who that lady is; what she’s wearing; how does what she’s wearing influence her or what does it mean to her? It changes from being a picture, a painting, into an experience. So through my art work I hope to translate that experience through virtual space and time.

Interviewer: You’ve talked about trying to instill, showcase and highlight African culture. I want to pinpoint you to the portrait just behind you. Kindly take our audience through what goes through your mind; for example when you conceptualize an idea up to the last moment when you have the final portrait that you have made. What does it take for an artist to conceptualize an idea till the final stage?

Khalai: Conceptual art means that planning and decisions are made prior to the execution of the artwork, okay? So that the final art work is just factory affair. It’s just complete. You’ve already planned, “This are the colors you’re going to use, This is that”. Now, I am not a conceptual artist. I am an intuitive artist where the painting leads the artwork itself. So my art is generally just led by my heart. I don’t plan the colors. I don’t plan anything about it. Like I said before, I’m completely fascinated by the faces.
Now, what generally happens with my art is, every portrait that I have ever done ever since I started painting professionally is someone that I know personally. Someone that has left an impact in my own personal life, okay? So like this one for example. There was a time I took a trip with a group of medical people to northern Kenya, Turkana. They were going to treat cancer patients who have little or no access to regular medical care. So I took a trip with them and I met this lady there. The first thing I saw about her was this huge growth on the right side of her abdomen. Huge, abnormally huge and you could just imagine how uncomfortable it was for her. But do you see the smile on this picture? The smile that she had just completely astounded me. I talked to her later and learned that she was not on medication and the growth she has, she’d had it for months. Almost a year and it was getting bigger and heavier and the kind of pain that she was experiencing was really out of this world. But she smiled, a bright welcoming smile through all adversities. Talking with her, I asked how she was able to overlook her challenges and she told me, “I’m here now, There’s so much joy around, If I focus on this pain, that’s all I’ll feel. But if I focus on the joy that is around me, that’s all I’ll feel”. I took the wise words with me for so many years. Till today. Every time I encounter something I feel is a bit heavy, I remember her. And that’s the reason I painted that picture. That smile reminds me there’s so much joy around. Don’t let something that is inside weigh you down. Focus on the happier things. The lighter things of life.
So my art is heart-led. It’s not a concept that I plan; this is what I’m going to do. When I’m standing in front of the canvas, a memory comes to me and that memory is what I put down.

Interviewer: Do you have a favorite portrait that you’ve created? If you do, kindly tell us about it.

Khalai: Actually, yes. I do. I think one of my recent ones is a portrait of the face of a young man. And this is the face of a relative of mine that I hadn’t seen in a long time. The last time I saw him, he was a child. And then this one time, I’m at a restaurant. And I love to watch people. People-watching is really interesting. You read a lot of expressions on people’s faces, which is what I try to put on my paintings. I was sightseeing and watching people around when I saw a young man looking at me from across the restaurant. Our eyes caught each other. Humans sometimes are uncomfortable being randomly watched. I turned my eyes way but the same person kept gazing on me. I found out later this was a relative of mine. He’s grown up to an interesting young man.
I love that portrait because it tells me how quickly things change into unrecognizable affairs. A situation can look so huge and daunting at one time and then within such a short period of time, it changes into something that is huge, beautiful and amazing outcome. So that’s my translation of that particular portrait. That’s why I love it.

Interviewer: In the African continent, we see so many women interested in art. What is the space of the African woman in the art industry.

Khalai: First of all, navigating the art world has no user manual. And the African woman has got to create the space for herself. Three things that I basically had to do which I feel any young woman or any woman creating art in Africa may need to do are:
First of all is to find a mentor. A person who understands the art world. I had a mentor. His name is Paul Cline. He helped me and showed me what I need to do to present myself to art galleries, art collectors and so on and so forth. He connected me with other artists that have been in the art business for decades painting for 20, 30 years. He was a connector. Any young woman, any woman wanting to get into the art world in Africa needs to find a connector. That way at least they are able to have conversations with other artists who are creating similar works to themselves and in so doing bring down the challenges that they are likely to face.
Secondly is to join a community of artists around them. I joined a community of female artists in this country. The group is called Synergy Artists. Through them I was able to exhibit my work. They organize exhibitions throughout the country and even in other countries. Through that my work got out there. People started to see my work. My name became known as the African artist that paints African people here in Saudi Arabia. So group work. Get involved in an art community.
Thirdly, once you start to connect with people, once you get involved in an art community, you get to know people. You get a chance to talk to them and explain whom you are, why you are doing what you’re doing, what is causing you to paint, what is causing you to create. If you are a sculptural artist, what is really pushing you to make those sculptures? Once you start to tell your story as an artist, you get a lot of openings and these openings now become support. People support you.
Artist also need to put themselves out there in order to receive support. And support comes in many different ways. I’ll describe the kind of support that I’ve received. First of all, over the years, I have been offered opportunities to exhibit my work at very exclusive venues for minimized cost and sometimes even for free. That is what art is all about. It’s getting your art out there. We don’t paint pictures so that we can hide them and look at them ourselves. It’s for the world to see. We are communicating a message. So when someone gives you an opportunity to show your artwork, that is a kind of support you never let go of. You’re always so grateful for it.
The second kind of support that I received was people spreading the word about the work that I do. And again this comes back to getting involved with a community of art around you. Getting a mentor. Because that is all networking. So the people meet you. They see your work and communicate to close ones.. I have people who’ve met me just once and they’ve referred 5, 6 different people to me. “This lady does portraits. This lady does this. This lady is involved with African culture. And they refer their friends, their relatives, their work mates to me and in so doing I am able to create art for them. I am able to pass my message, what I’m trying to communicate on canvas, onto them. It continues. The effect continues. They in turn tell other people and they send more people back to me. This the most powerful kind of support an artist can ever receive. So any woman in Africa wanting to get into the art world, these are things that they need look to.
The other kind of support I’ve received has been from clients, from well-wishers, from friends as well. People investing in materials from my artwork to enable me to continue my art practice. You get an email saying, “Hey, I’ve bought these kinds of paints. I think you would be able to use them. How do I get them to you?” Or someone calls you and says, “I want to buy some paints, some canvas for you. Can we meet at the shop and let’s do this”. These people have ensured that my art practice has not stopped. So anyone, any lady wanting to get into the art world in Africa needs to keep a very open mind about working with people because other artists are not your competition. They are your network. They are the ladder. You cannot move, you cannot rise on your own. You need the others to help you rise.

Interviewer: Well, amazing. That’s a very important point. Now, I would like you to tell us, what kind of effort and resources go into making an excellent portrait? How many hours do you spend putting those colors up? All that. What kind of effort does it all entail?

Khalai: That’s a really deep question. I was not expecting that. Let me give an example of this. This one took me about 8, 9 10 days to do. First of all because of its scale. Its 2 meters tall. It’s quite big. And maybe about 1½ meters across, right?
So first of all, you need the materials. Getting this size of canvas here was a challenge in itself. So what I had to do was to improvised. I recycled canvas. There is canvas that is used for making bags for transportation. So I went and got that, stitched it together and prepared it to paint on it.
And then there’s the paint itself. I needed a lot of it for this size of art so I just put my collection of paint together. And the space. I’m very grateful. I’m thankful that I have a big enough space where I can paint whatever size I want to paint.
Once the materials are ready, the palettes, the brushes, the water, everything that you need is in front of you, I had to get my mind right. I’m standing there. What am I feeling? Like I said before, I’m an intuitive painter. I paint from my heart. At that particular time, I was feeling very warm and fuzzy. For me, peach is a color that brings out a lot of warm fuzzy feelings. It’s something I noticed about myself. When I dress in peach, I’m feeling really warm and receptive to that kind of thing.
So I would start with a particular color but my heart really chooses a color as I go along. When I apply it, I step back and take a look “I don’t think so. Maybe I need to change this”. I paint in layers. Intuitive art really. The layers is what brings the art alive. So every day, a different color comes with a different mood, you know? So it goes on and tomorrow I’ll find myself painting a little bit of red on one side. A day after, adding a little bit of blue because of my feeling on that particular day. The next day, I had a change of heart And cover the blue with peach then.. So this is a fight that goes on within my spirit. Every day this feeling overpowers this one until the painting comes alive. The portrait now looks like a person. And once my heart settles down and I have a feeling of satisfaction. That’s when I know the painting is now complete. So from start to finish, it generally takes several days.

Interviewer: Wow! I’m so happy to know so much details about your work. It’s such a pleasure. Thank you so much for taking your time to grant us this interview.

Khalai: Thank you so much for taking time as well to have an interview with me.