Passionate about decoration since the age of 14, her first project was her bedroom, which she transformed into a fantasy world in black and white.
Sultana finds inspiration everywhere. There is always something interesting — a shape, a color, a texture – that catches her attention. The search for inspiration never stops; it is a continuous effort, a 24/7 exercise to capture ideas and feelings and come up with something exciting.
Soultana’s one-off pieces of furniture fire our imaginations and delight our senses. What makes this furniture so distinctive is the way it changes the look of a room. The pieces are a savvy mix of art, design and sculpture.
Sultana admits that she will keep a piece of furniture, which is really nice even if it is not practical. “A growing number of people want more from their furniture. Furniture should not be merely functional, but it should also reflect our tastes, our dreams and our values,” she says.
One of her signature hybrid chairs, “the painting seat,” is fitted with a painting. “Why should a painting always hang on a wall? There are other ways to enjoy a painting,” explains Sultana.
Such exceptional pieces reflect the growth of “art furniture” where a chair is not merely meant to seat a person but also an open invitation to dream. Design art transforms a ubiquitous chair into a beautiful, enduring and precious object.
We live in a consumer’s society where everything happens so fast and fashion and trends come and go. The market is filled with a constant flow of new products and people are conditioned, by advertising and peer pressure, to keep on buying unnecessary things, which are not meant to last. This sense of futility and transience has created a need to buy beautiful “objets d’art” that are enduring.
Art is not only affecting furniture design, but it is also influencing the world of fashion and the luxury industry. Art is an endless source of creativity. The need for creativity symbolizes our epoch. There is a growing number of people across the world that have the money and a taste for high-end design.
“I only make one-off pieces...I made a ‘chandelier-table’ covered in Swarovski crystals. I spent so many hours working on it that I lost track of time because I was thoroughly enjoying myself. Happiness to me is when I finish a piece and I like it!” says Sultana.
The “chandelier-table” epitomizes the Soultana brand. Her “fusion” style, refreshing and inventive, was shown for the first time at a joint exhibition held last year at the Riyadh Intercontinental Hotel. A preview of her work was also aired on MBC 1.
Sultana is not interested in opening a shop. “A shop,” she says, “would be a source of pressure: pressure to fill the space with furniture and objects, pressure to change the decoration of the shop and, therefore, pressure to keep on producing more pieces. I do not want to feel the pressure of time. I am not really interested in designing bespoke pieces, which are commissioned by private clients. I create whatever I fancy and specialize in the pure one-off, the closest you can get to pure design,” explains Sultana.
When Sultana is not working on her art-design furniture, she is busy decorating. Her latest project consisted in revamping the offices of a women’s philanthropic society based in Riyadh. She has also decorated several houses which are infused with her stylish touch.
She acknowledges that she is not particularly into contemporary design. “At the moment, I am not attracted to modern trends, but I do like Thai and Chinese styles and the bright colors used in Mexican interiors. It is encouraging to see how Saudi women since the last three to four years are so much interested in decoration and interior design. They are open to new ideas while the previous generations went for marble and gilded furniture,” says Sultana.
She enjoys decorating bathrooms, which she does not visualize as strictly functional. She fills her bathrooms with paintings, art objects and lots of flowers and plants.
“A bathroom is a very special space where you can relax and re-energize. Having been neglected for a long time, bathrooms are now a focus for designers. Even the great Zaha Hadid has designed bathroom fixtures and the Italian architect Piero Lissoni has conceived an original glass bathtub, which is a work of art. There is also something soothing and relaxing about looking at glass, and it also radiates so much light.”
Sultana’s passion for art is at the center of her creativity. Her style is fresh and original. Design art is alive in the heart of Arabia.