From a young age, Kholoud Hosny’s life has been colored by her passion for art. A passion that has evolved alongside her. Hours spent painting has nurtured her talent. Today, Hosny uses art not just as a creative outlet, but as a profound means of storytelling and healing. Through her exhibitions, such as Windows and The Tales, she shares personal narratives and challenges societal norms, particularly regarding women’s experiences. Despite facing health challenges, Hosny’s resilience shines through in her art, inspiring others. Kholoud Hosny exemplifies how art can transcend boundaries, speaking directly to the soul where words often fail.
Childhood Colors:
Hosny’s love for art started at a very young age. She would spend hours covered in colors, painting away. She recalled lovingly, “When we would go to the North Coast, I would join an art club there”. While other kids were playing in the sand, or swimming in the sea, she would be in the art club, all day long. In fact, her very first oil painting was done in the North Coast. As she is growing up, her love and passion for art grew with her. She had always known that she wanted to dedicate her entire life to art.
Painting Perspectives on Life:
Art is a vessel for Hosny. It is her way of expressing her thoughts, emotions, and experiences. She remembered her first solo exhibition, “Windows‘ concept is that each person has their own window, their own vision in life. So, everyone has a different perspective on life. Each painting showed a different perspective in life.” There an idea was born – instead of having a specific theme for her exhibitions, she would have her paintings telling true stories. Stories that she or the closet people to her have lived through.
Hosny struggled with her health for many years. Ever since she was young, she had health issues, but during college, she relapsed. She would have unexplainable seizures and she would pass out often. The way people reacted to her health issues caused her a lot of emotional turmoil. She reflected, “I remember once someone told me, ‘It is not nice for a girl your age to pass out all the time’. Even in sickness, you are a girl, so you can’t”. Going through this, the artist came to the relaxation of how every woman is affected by misogyny and double standards.
Art as Healing:
Living with a chronic illness, she would not be able to go out a lot. So, she put all of her energy, time, and effort into her art. In her second solo exhibition, Tales, she accompanied each painting with a caption that she wrote herself. The reaction to that exhibition is forever etched in her mind and heart. She recalled, “One girl walked up to me with tears in her eyes and she told me, ‘I feel like you are talking about me’ and another girl told me, ‘I was hurt and your art reopened that wound’”. Seeing the reactions of these girls, something clicked for Hosny- we all go through the same pain but in different scenarios.
One of the closest exhibitions to Hosny’s heart is Before I Leave. Divided into two parts, it explores lessons learned from adversity and tells the tale of a woman adrift. It sheds light on societal attitudes towards women, emphasizing the spotlight society places on their treatment. The exhibition encapsulates a period of time and real-life events experienced by the artist, where she utilized art as a means of therapy and expression, showcasing the strength of women. Employing an abstract style characterized by swathes of color, she embodied diverse human emotions.
Healing through Art Therapy:
Seeing her art evoke such strong reactions, led her to the path of becoming an art therapist. Hosny created Shebbakha, an art therapy forum to support Egyptian women’s mental health
“Therapy does not have to have the language of words”, said Hosny. She explained that some people do not know how to verbalize their feeling, or they remember things visually. This is where art therapy comes into play. Art therapy differs from one person to another, and it specializes on what the person needs. Also, Hosny explained that art therapy is not limited to only drawing your feeling. An art therapist could recommend creating a board to visualize a period of time, collecting articles read that might help them, or even photographs of the hard time in their life.
Kholoud Hosny’s journey through art is a testament to its transformative power. Through her art, Kholoud Hosny not only expresses her own experiences and emotions but also touches the lives of others, sparking profound connections and reflections.