Local Artist seeks to rebuild with upcoming exhibition after losing home and art pieces to a fire

FOR Guyanese artist Sameer Khan, art has always been more than expression — it’s survival. From a childhood shaped by hardship and resilience to the loss of his home and more than 70 art pieces in a fire last year, Khan has continually turned tragedy into transformation. Now, at 34, he prepares to unveil Elysium, his most personal and abstract exhibition yet, opening on November 14 at Castellani House. Through vibrant strokes and layered emotions, Khan’s work invites viewers into a space where imagination meets healing — where pain finds beauty in abstraction.

Art has been a catalyst for self-expression since Sameer was a child. Growing up on the Essequibo Coast, his childhood was characterised by things he says no child should see. Grappling with family issues and hurdles, art became his outlet.

“I grew up in Essequibo, and at a very tender age, I witnessed some things that I think I should not have witnessed as a child. And I think I’ve used art as a coping mechanism to get a grip on my emotions or express my emotions. At a very young age, I was very skilful in drawing,” he said.

Throughout his childhood, Sameer won various art competitions. With his mother’s support, he fell in love with, and pursued, art. While his primary school years were filled with challenges, high school became a fresh start. Since taking art seriously in secondary school, Sameer has never looked back.

“I had a period of time in primary school where I was bullied and abused by one particular teacher. Then I went into secondary school, and that was kind of like a relief for me — new people, new teacher, new atmosphere, new settings, everything was new. And I was willing to step into that. I started winning many art competitions again.” He added, “Year after year, I would come up as a national winner or in the top three consecutively. After my CXC exams, my results weren’t even out yet, and my school was calling me to go back and teach.”

Teaching was where Sameer perfected his skills while guiding others to create art. Although he initially wanted to be anything but a teacher, he soon fell in love with the profession.

“I didn’t want to get into teaching. I was looking for anything else but teaching. Unfortunately — or rather, fortunately — I ended up in teaching in Georgetown. I was teaching visual arts and craft from Forms One to Five. That’s how I started. And I was teaching Spanish from Forms One to Three, and technical drawing from Four and Five,” he said. “After a few months, I changed that. I was juggling two schools — teaching visual arts, craft, and Spanish from Forms One to Five in one school. In the other school, I had to teach up to Grade Nine Spanish, and then Grades Seven to Eleven art. I did that.”

While teaching, Sameer was also expanding his creative horizons, learning new art forms and developing diverse skills that have made him the multifaceted creative he is today.

“While I was doing so, part-time I would do décor, backdrops, set dressing, costumes, sometimes special effects makeup for different productions at the Cultural Centre. I would do banners and so on — painting and tinting these banners. And I just evolved, basically.” He added, “Then I went a little bit into floral and cake décor. Basically, I tried to get into every single thing so that I don’t get bored doing one particular thing. I can do portrait drawings, whether coloured or black and white, and I can do them in painting forms. I can do sceneries and so on.”

Although versatile, Sameer has developed a unique signature style that includes strong abstract elements. His art is layered and profound, using shapes, shades, and depth to convey more than a scene — it conveys emotion, much like poetry.

“I also have a love for abstract. I think abstract is poetry, and that means a lot more to me rather than just doing a portrait or a scenery. I mean, come on, anybody could just say, I want to go and paint the Kaieteur Falls or St George’s Cathedral. Those are common things that you see. But self-expression is on a totally different level — it’s like poetry and art,” he said.

Like so much other great art, Sameer’s newest collection was inspired by loss and grief. After losing several family members, tragedy struck again when his home and much of his art were lost in a fire. While abroad last August, Sameer received the gut-wrenching news that his home had been reduced to ashes — his business and more than 70 pieces gone. Although he considered staying overseas and starting anew, he made the bold choice to return home and rebuild.

“The fire happened on August 19. I was supposed to come back in August, and I had to extend my stay until September 16. I wasn’t sure if I was trying to stay abroad — I was getting some opportunities to stay — and then I was thinking, I might stay here,” Sameer said. “But I told myself, I could go back home and start to rebuild, see what my country has to offer, and help me with. I decided to make that bold move and come back home.”

Sameer’s rebuilding could be summarised in one word: Elysium. The exhibition, slated for November 14 to December 15, is a profound, personal showcase featuring much of his new work inspired by loss, grief, and rebirth.

“Looking back at the previous pieces that I was accumulating — most of it was portraits and sceneries and so on. This fire actually kind of awakened a part of me. I always loved abstract. My idea of having an art gallery in the past was more of the fact that I always saw people do portrait forms or sceneries, and I was kind of adapting to it,” he stated.

Sameer says his art has changed. Backed by the same creativity, his work now seeks to be more unique and powerful, urging onlookers to feel emotion.

“When I really sat and thought about it, I was like, I don’t have to do the most common thing like everybody else. I want it to be different. I want it to be all me. It must be a representation of a different part of me,” he said.

And he says that is what Elysium is all about.

“Elysium speaks of something sort of fantasy and imaginative. So I looked up this theme and I was like, you know what — Elysium, that’s what it’s going to be. It’s going to be all the things that you could imagine and think when you look at the piece,” he explained.

Elysium will feature around 50 pieces, each bold and emotive in its own way. Giving some insight into what exhibition-goers can expect, Sameer shared: “Some pieces take the form of three pieces to conclude one piece. And then there are others based on the shape of the canvas — one piece in particular is a collection of eight small pieces. There’s a lot of diversity happening there.”

For Sameer, Elysium is a dream materialised and a goal long held since 2008, when his first piece was exhibited at Castellani House. More importantly, he hopes that his exhibition will inspire other young artists to see their talent as a viable career, not merely a hobby.

“Over the years, I’ve seen a lot of artists struggle with their art. I’ve seen a lot of good artists put away art for some sort of career. I always believe that we should be able to capitalise on the things that we love to do,” he said. “I think a lot of young artists should put their all into what they’re doing. Turn your struggles into steps and pedestals that you could climb on. It doesn’t matter how many times you fall — what counts is how many times you actually get up.”