Good art is an experience for those who engage with it, and Haneefah Adam’s art is always that way. Her recent, and first solo, exhibition of wire sculptures at Angels and Muse in Lagos was no different. Whether she is painting, creating sculptures or food art, her work is unique and striking. “I work with mixed media. I paint with acrylic and watercolour, and also do photography, videography and sculpture,” Haneefah says about her forms of expression.
On Mentorship & Choosing Art As A Career
Haneefah has an MSc in Pharmacology and Drug Discovery from Coventry University, UK. Her career path, however, was not as she had would have imagined. “I really thought I was going to finish my master’s degree, get married, become a lecturer at a university. You know… a safe, laid out expected route,” she says. “From the responses I got to my works, I decided to just go for art. In the break between my first and second degree, I explored blogging about food, my faith, fashion, arts and crafts and just general lifestyle. I built up on that from ‘failed’ clothing line launches and the likes.”
In the beginning, she was overwhelmed by the attention and support her work got, but when that died down, she settled into crafting her identity and focusing on the type of art she wanted to create. Haneefah highlights the importance of mentorship and how it continues to help her to grow. She says, I have been blessed with some individuals I’ve had the privilege of meeting. They have helped with both short and long term mentorship.”
It’s important to go with your purpose. In Nigeria, it can be hard to choose an alternative career; however, one often finds that when you ‘prove’ to family and friends that you know what you’re doing, they come around to the idea. For Haneefah, her family did. “They finally came around to it when they saw the type of attention it was getting and saw that it is sustainable,” she explains. “We never discussed pursuing art as a career even though they knew I had a flair for creating.”
On Influence and Inspiration
Her work also draws heavily from her personal experiences and things she observes in self and immediate environment. “I love history and culture and celebrating and learning more about mine is something I thoroughly enjoy.”
While establishing an art career is not without its own challenges, Haneefah chooses to see them as a part of the process. This includes negative comments. Her approach to those is worth emulating. “I mostly ignore it or laugh about it. Once in a while, I try to explain myself,” she says. “I think It is just important that I believe strongly in what I am doing and not be distracted by too many negative influences and I just continue to do my thing. Talking about it with my support system also helps.”
On The Future and The Past
In spite of every good thing that has happened to her, she respects the journey it took to get there. When I ask what she would tell her 18-year-old self if she could, she says, “You know, I would tell her everything will be okay and she’s going to do amazing. I really do not know what might have happened if I had gone into the arts from the beginning. I respect my journey and I think most things happen as they are supposed to,” she says. “It is my 23-year old self I would have told to worry less.”
You can find Haneefah and more of her work at:
Instagram: Muslimahanie
Twitter: ms_hanie