Visual Artist | United Arab Emirates
Sonu Sultania
Spotlight
Sonu Sultania: Moving With the Medium
Sonu Sultania came to art by a route that surprises people. She trained in commerce and company law, built a career around it, and then, after relocating from Kolkata to Dubai in 2013, set it aside. She does not describe the shift as a dramatic change of direction. Looking back, it feels to her more like returning to something she had put down for a while.
Since making that return, she has built one of the most active exhibition records among Dubai-based artists. Her work has appeared at World Art Dubai, Art Dubai, Tashkeel, the Ras Al Khaimah Fine Art Festival, and Fabriano in Acquarello in Italy. In 2023, she held ‘Inhale Exhale’, a solo exhibition at FN Designs Gallery in Alserkal Avenue. The premise was simple: to give people a place to slow down. It remains one of the clearest statements of what her practice is for.
Recognition has followed consistently. She took first place at the Noon Art Awards, presented by Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher Bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, second place at the Ras Al Khaimah Fine Art Festival, and was among the winners of the Clyde and Co MENA Art Awards and the Kobo Art Competition. In 2021, she was also honoured with a UAE Cultural Visa from Dubai Culture & Arts Authority and the Government of Dubai. Rove Hotels and World Art Dubai named her among their Top 10 Emerging Artists of the Year. These are not isolated moments; they reflect a practice that has grown steadily in both ambition and reach over more than a decade.
Sonu works primarily with alcohol ink, a fluid and unpredictable medium that suits her intuitive approach. She also works in watercolour, mixed media, and digital formats, moving between semi-abstract surreal landscapes, contemporary abstracts, and figurative conceptual pieces depending on what the idea calls for. More recently, she has begun incorporating reclaimed and discarded materials into her landscape work, extending an interest in transformation that has run through her practice from the beginning.
What feeds the work is, by her own account, mostly quiet: nature, travel, the textures and colour shifts of ordinary days. The goal she returns to is equally unassuming. She wants to make something that causes a viewer to pause, even briefly, and to find within that pause a small measure of stillness. After more than a decade of consistent, recognised work, that intention has not changed. It has simply found more ways to reach people.
Artworks by Sonu Sultania
About the creator
Sonu Sultania
- Sonu Sultania is an Indian contemporary artist born in 1983, based in Dubai. Originally from Kolkata, she transitioned from a career in company law to visual art after relocating to Dubai in 2013, developing a practice rooted in experimentation across mediums, with a particular focus on Alcohol Ink. Her semi-abstract works explore emotion, storytelling, and the cultural influences she encounters through travel.
Short Biography
Sonu holds a Bachelor of Commerce with Honors from the University of Calcutta and a Diploma in Corporate Secretary from the Compliance Institute of Company Secretaries of India, qualifications that underpinned a career in company law before she turned to art. Since 2013, she has built one of the most active exhibition records among Dubai-based artists, showing work consistently at World Art Dubai, Tashkeel, and major UAE venues, as well as internationally at Fabriano in Acquarello in Italy across 2017, 2018, and 2019. Her solo exhibition 'Inhale Exhale', represented by FN Designs Gallery at Alserkal Avenue, was held in 2023. She has received multiple awards and nominations, including first place at the Noon Art Awards presented by Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher Bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, second place at the Ras Al Khaimah Fine Art Festival in 2022, and wins at the Clyde and Co MENA Art Awards and the Kobo Art Competition in 2019.
Education
Sonu holds a Bachelor of Commerce with Honors from the University of Calcutta (2004) and a Diploma in Corporate Secretary from the Compliance Institute of Company Secretaries of India (2005). Her artistic development has been self-directed.
Exhibitions
Sonu's solo exhibition history includes 'Inhale Exhale' at FN Designs Gallery, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai (2023) and a solo presentation at World Art Dubai (2023). Her extensive group exhibition record spans over a decade and includes 'Abstract Universe' at Art Smiley Gallery (2025); 'Made in Tashkeel' at Tashkeel Nad Al Sheba (2023 and 2024); 'Merely Random', an immersive digital exhibition at Art in Space Gallery (2024); DIFC Art Nights, World Art Dubai, 'Philosophy of Food' at Tashkeel, the Indian Pavilion Exhibition at Expo City, Ras Al Khaimah Fine Art Festival, and the New Media Section with Morrow Collective at Art Dubai (all 2022); World Art Dubai and 'Women in Art' at Gallery Arabesque, DIFC (2019 and 2020 and 2021); Fabriano in Acquarello in Fabriano, Italy (2017, 2018, and 2019); 'Sandscapes' at Sikka Art Festival, 'After the Rain' at Noon Gallery, 'Common Ground' at The Cube DIFC, 'Sheroes' at Funun Arts, and 'Play' at Tashkeel (all 2019); and numerous group shows across Dubai and Abu Dhabi from 2013 onwards, including exhibitions at Tashkeel, Studio Seven Gallery, DUCTAC, Nest Dubai, Vantage Point Sharjah, the Rashid Centre for Disabled, and Gallery 76 at Dubai International Art Centre.
Awards
Sonu has received significant recognition across her career. Her awards include second place at the Ras Al Khaimah Fine Art Festival (2022), first place at the Noon Art Awards presented by Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher Bint Mohammed Al Qasimi (2019), winner of the Clyde and Co MENA Art Awards (2019), winner of the Kobo Art Competition (2019), winner of the Dubai Through My Eyes award at World Art Dubai (2018), and winner of the Cultural Diversity Competition (2018). She was also named Top 10 Emerging Artist of the Year by Rove Hotels and World Art Dubai (2020), Emerging Artist of the Month by Elevision Media (2020), and received the Art Mentor Award presented by His Excellency Suhail Al Zarooni (2020). She received nominations for the Emerging Scene Art Prize in both 2020 and 2021.
Artistic Style
Sonu works across multiple mediums, with Alcohol Ink as a central focus alongside watercolor, mixed media, and digital work. Her practice is semi-abstract, building vibrant compositions that carry emotional and narrative weight through color, form, and texture. Her works often emerge as what she describes as therapeutic landscapes, reflecting inner experience alongside the cultural influences gathered through travel. Rather than providing conclusions, her practice opens spaces for reflection, using art as a vessel for both personal and collective meaning and seeking connection with viewers on a level beyond the purely aesthetic.
Masterpieces by Sonu Sultania
