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I first crossed paths with Noa Ain when I saw her portraits hanging in Petrossian Café a few months ago. I recently met up with her to delve into her inspiration for the works and probe into what compels her to create portraits. When drawing portraits, Ain looks for qualities that move her, asking, what it is that is special about this person and why might I want to go inside their world? For Ain, she enjoys capturing a person’s soul through a particular expression in one’s eyes and finding the hidden meaning behind the mystery of individual characters. Her spirituality also guides her work. Subtlety and detail are important for Ain as is capturing inner moments where the soul shines out. |
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Painting on the Inside – Daniel Sonnenberg
I first crossed paths with Noa Ain when I saw her portraits hanging in Petrossian Café a few months ago. I recently met up with her to delve into her inspiration for the works and probe into what compels her to create portraits.
When drawing portraits, Ain looks for qualities that move her, asking, what it is that is special about this person and why might I want to go inside their world? For Ain, she enjoys capturing a person’s soul through a particular expression in one’s eyes and finding the hidden meaning behind the mystery of individual characters. Her spirituality also guides her work. Subtlety and detail are important for Ain as is capturing inner moments where the soul shines out.
Ain’s other works include painted impressions of natural forms that evoke different images depending on the position a viewer is standing in. One that caught my eye was, Manifestation of the Goddess, which are flowers painted in iridescent acrylic on canvas. The process for drawing for Ain is very different from her process for painting. Drawing is usually very fast, whereas painting could take several weeks or even months. Painting consists of using layer after layer of paint. “Musically speaking drawing is more like writing a song; it is very spontaneous and the heart of it reveals itself quickly,” said Ain, who still composes music.
Ain has painted on and off for years, but painted seriously for the last six years. After studying classical piano at Julliard, Ain was exposed to art when she posed nude for various artists in Soho. She also studied art at the L’Ecole des Beaux Arts in Fontainebleau, France.
In the process of creating, some doubt is normal for an artist. Only the artist knows what is correct in the particular piece, however as time goes on, the artist becomes more confident. “At the beginning I might have doubted myself more, now I begin to understand where I’m coming from and it is easier to take risks,” Ain says enthusiastically.
About a year ago, Ain had an epiphany to begin painting female Buddhas but then experienced some doubt. However, after a visit to the Rubin Museum of Art in New York, to see the exhibit, “Female Buddhas: Women of Enlightenment in Himalayan Art," she was inspired to go ahead with her own work. The most common name for a female Buddha is Tara followed by Red Yogini. Ain’s work, Reclining Tara of the Ecstatic Path features a woman leaning down in a contorted position with a wistful expression across her face and is drawn in iridescent oil pastels and pencil on ripped paper. The paper is ripped by Ain in an act of passion and reflects another way of revealing the truth of the subject. For artists, it is as important to find out what is extra as it is to find out what should be included in a work.
Her yoga teacher was the inspiration for the piece. Interestingly enough when she first came in contact with Beth, she was very intimidated and proceeded to leave the first yoga class weeping. However, according to Ain, there was also a deep and ancient sensuality of Beth that was reminiscent of the Hindu states, which featured the qualities she was looking to capture. These qualities encouraged Ain to go back and learn more about Beth and use her as the model for Reclining Tara of the Ecstatic Path. The work took about three weeks to complete. She would work on it for a weekend, then leave it for a few days, then come back to it. It was important that she did not lose the first inspiration that drew her to the work to begin with.
Parting with paintings for an artist is never an easy task. “Once a painting is completed, my pleasure continues as others come and discover their own pleasure,” said Ain. Besides these works are soon forgotten as her mind’s attention is taken to her new works.
