ART BY
SUMRIEN

ARTIST PROFILE
Sumrien Ali is a contemporary visual artist whose work focuses on abstract paintings. Born in Karachi, Pakistan and raised in Poughkeepsie, NY, Sumrien lived the early part of adulthood in Raleigh, NC, before calling Washington DC her home. She is a practicing architect and designer transitioning into real estate development after completing her Master's in Real Estate Finance and Development from Georgetown University.
Sumrien sees architecture as an art and a science. It is the act of taking the abstract and building a reality. Art, on the other hand, starts with reality and builds an abstract representation of it. She is drawn to producing abstract works because of the creative freedom they allow: They have no boundaries, rules, or regulations as with architecture, but support limitless emotions and possibilities.
Her paintings invite viewers to reflect on reality through the artist’s eyes, stepping outside of themselves to experience another person’s viewpoint and emotional range. By combining dynamic color combinations, layers, and texture, Sumrien strives to create movement and to explore the journey of discovery, life, and depth. Sumrien’s most admired artists include Mark Rothko, Georgio O'Keefe, and Jackson Pollock. Her currently preferred medium is acrylic on canvas with a palette knife.