Masturah Sha’ari is a gallerist, curator, artist, and art historian. Growing up with a love for drawing, even winning a few neighbourhood children’s art competitions, she paints mostly abstracts, including abstract landscapes, using varied gestures and coloured strokes to convey emotions. Playing with acrylic, brushes, wooden boards used at construction sites, palette knives, cutlery, crayons, even her hands, on the canvas, she produces pieces that may seem either polished or raw. Her works, often a response to life events, have been exhibited in Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam, and collected internationally.
Masturah holds a Master of Arts in Asian Art Histories from Goldsmiths University of London through LASALLE College of the Arts. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Economics and Malay Studies from National University of Singapore (NUS), and a Diploma in Design Communication from LASALLE College of the Arts.
As co-founder of Maya Gallery, Masturah is highly dedicated to promote and support Singapore artists internationally, and is heavily involved in curating exhibitions, doing research, writing and publishing catalogues, and conducting forums, workshops, collaborations, and gallery tours. Actively contributing to the art community, she serves as President of Angkatan Pelukis Aneka Daya (APAD), an art society of Malay artists in Singapore. In 2021, she was appointed Chairman of Voices & Visions: Singapore Women Artists Exhibition 2021 organised by Federation of Art Societies Singapore (FASS). She is an exco member in the Singapore Arts Federation (SAF), and has mentored undergrads, spoken at museums and institutions, volunteers. Masturah is driven by a passion for bridging traditional and contemporary art practices, and the belief that art is vital nourishment for the human spirit.
“As modern day women, we live and work in a rapidly fast and changing environment, sometimes performing multiple roles as career woman, daughter, mother, wife, entrepreneur, volunteer, and many more. We also have passions, dreams, motivating us to push the boundaries, to achieve a higher purpose. Whilst we are reminded to be grateful for our heritage, our cultures, where we came from, and social expectations, we also seek to come to terms with issues that matter. The process of making art, for me, in painting abstracts, is an emotional response to that, to significant events, and trying to capture at least a fragment of my memories of these moments.”
