Creating what I can’t see: Noshin Begum
Noshin is our March Artist of the Month
This month, we collaborated with New Yorker Noshin Begum to create illustrations of Bangladeshi Identity Project team members, as seen on our Instagram page. At 18, Noshin is creating a stir with unique strokes and bold artwork. We caught up with her.
When and why did you start your craft?
I have drawn for most of my life. A distinct memory in my mind is when I was four years old, and my mother taught me how to draw a flower. That was the start of my journey. In 10th grade, I decided to get serious because I was considering pursuing art school. Art had been a passion for most of my life, I loved to create and I just wanted to learn so much more about the different ways in which one could make art. I realized I needed to have an actual portfolio of work so I began taking a free portfolio class in Brooklyn under the Daedalus foundation. Those classes were probably one of the things that pushed my work farther than before.
Tell us more about you, your craft, your inspirations, and your vision.
Throughout the years I’ve had a variety of inspirations but one of the biggest was perhaps personal experience. A lot of my work that I have done for myself have been based on different experiences I have been through, many of them reflected through self-portraits. Either portrait representing my sexuality (bi), my city, my interests, or my struggles. In all pieces, it’s subtle, but really all of what makes my personal world is what inspires.
What kind of support did you get from family and/or friends when you began your craft?
From friends, I’ve always had support, irrespective of if they were also artists or otherwise. When it comes to family it has been somewhat like a see-saw. My parents never really cared if I’m honest, as in they let me be with what I wanted to do. There were little comments here and there when I was younger, but they never actively stopped me. They love my work and show it to others. Some of my strongest support, however, has been from my cousin Mahida. She’s the closest thing I have to a big sister, and has constantly supported me and whatever it is I decide to pursue. In art specifically, she’s always told me how to better myself. She herself has said this to me, but she’s my biggest fan. And best friend. It’s all the support I’d ever need.
As an artist in the Bangladeshi diaspora, do you feel represented in the larger art community?
Honestly, I do not. I don’t think I ever really see people who look like me in the art community as a whole. This has to do with a lot of the work I create as well. I never see it, so I create it.
However, anyone can see that things are slowly but surely changing. Many of the artists coming up now, in a variety of mediums and forms are people of color. I simply hope to see more people like me — young Bangali women represented in this community.
What advice would you give to your younger self about your art?
I’m only eighteen right now, so younger me is only a few years ago. I guess the one piece of advice I’d give her is to keep going like crazy if she wants to. There were a lot of times where I wouldn’t draw, periods of art block I guess. I wish I constantly created though, perhaps not full on pieces but just sketching away. Other than that, perhaps to compare myself less to those around me. I have many artist friends, but all of us create in different forms. I wish I didn’t compare the way I created to someone else so heavily.
