Photo taken during the opening of Color Transformation exhibition - a solo exhibition of Qatari artist Salman Al Malek
Ebtisam Al-Saffar is a Qatari artist based in Doha. She holds a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from the College of Art Education at Qatar University, obtained in 1995, and is a member of the Qatar Fine Arts Society. Al-Saffar is interested in depicting features that most effectively illustrate emotional and psychological states of humans, such as changes, desires, aspirations, and memories, which form the human experience, focusing on face and eyes. Her paintings reflect a sense of empathy and spirit through a distinctive technique that employs vibrant colors. She believes that the asymmetry of the human body on one hand, and its definition and flexibility on the other, are fundamentally linked to water.
Al-Saffar has presented a series of paintings of human faces as a means of understanding everything about a person, such as love, emotion, sadness, and their entire life story. She is now interested in painting nature with a focus on water as the most vital element that has nourished humans since the beginning of creation.
Al-Saffar collaborated with the fashion brand "Kayla" to create a connection between fashion and her artistic practices. She has participated in numerous group exhibitions both locally and internationally. Some of her latest participations include the Luxor International Symposium, 7th Edition, Egypt (2024;) Cairo Amman Bank Symposium, 8th Edition, Jordan (2024); New York (2023); Qatar Studio (2019); Mediterranean Contemporary Art Symposium, Tunisia (2016); Dhaka International Biennale (2012); UNESCO, France, Japan, Khartoum, and Oman.
Al-Saffar has also participated in “Reach Out to Asia" with artworks supporting charitable projects, believing in the artist's role in supporting societal and global issues. Al-Saffar took part in an artist residency program in Paris in 2017, taking full advantage of her stay by visiting museums and building a strong network with artists from around the world. She gave a public lecture at Doha Fire Station Cinema about her experience in the artist residency program.