Hi, my name is Rael Sarmeen and I’m the artist behind Oseye Illustrations. I’m from Assam, India and I was born and raised here. I attended The Assam Valley School (Tezpur), the eminent Shri Ram College of Commerce (University of Delhi) and The London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London).
Like most young folks in their career experimentation stage, I’ve worked in different fields ranging from economics and environment to health, but I finally settled in international trade with UNCTAD.
You can ask – How does a formal, almost job-like description of my studies and career relate to Oseye Illustrations? Who even cares, really?
Well, all these stages had a large hand in the evolution of my art and the definitive style that I have put into my artworks today. You are seeing a mind which has been shaped by a specific background and a specific set of experiences transferred on paper.
Assam is insanely green, humid and so fertile that you can spit out a seed, and eventually (and in all likelihood) a plant will sprout there. I grew up in that greenery, surrounded by flowers and vegetable patches, running about in cotton chemises with my cousins, creating a ruckus for our grandparents and respective parents.
Being in a boarding school, it was a change in crowd but not in the lush Assamese scenery. One Google search and you will understand exactly how my art is reflective of the regional environment that had a dominating, albeit silent, influence in how I notice the world. The cities of the different universities and other places I’ve had the chance to travel only enhanced the environment – reliant colour palette I had already adopted in my formative years.
Creating art stilled my mind when my eyes and hands were productive in seeing and transferring those observations on paper. Art can be incredibly personal, should one choose it to be.
Through all stages of life so far, my return to creating art was my constant. This is why I hope that any of the Oseye pieces that has the good fortune to grace your home, your space, your rooms’ nooks and crannies brings you joy and calm that I felt while making it.
I hope an Oseye artwork brings you good luck!
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