As her art reaches new audiences, Emirati artist Shamsa Al Omaira examines vulnerability and the confidence of trusting one’s voice.

For renowned Abu Dhabi-based Emirati artist and designer Shamsa Al Omaira, the last few years have been particularly successful. Not only was her first solo exhibition in a decade just launched at Iris
Projects Abu Dhabi to great acclaim in January 2026, but the creative was also appointed to create the first large-scale public artwork at Abu Dhabi Royal Equestrian Arts (ADREA).

On the other side of her career, her Emirati jewellery brand O Jewelry went viral after Her Majesty Queen Rania of Jordan was pictured wearing one of her bracelets. However, despite all these achievements and accolades, Shamsa, like all other creative artists, still has moments where she doubts the value of her work. In fact, she candidly admits that it was only after her participation at Abu Dhabi Art 2025 sold out within hours that she realised that her art indeed held mass appeal.

“One of the reasons I put off being represented by a gallery for so long was that I didn’t think my work was commercial in any way,” Shamsa recalls. “But seeing a collector instantly connect to some of my pieces that were so intimate and personal made me feel totally understood. It changed the way I look at my work.” Rooted in complex emotions and contradictions, Shamsa’s Hard Like Tears, Soft Like Glass at Iris Projects includes moving works such as Pouches Of Skin (featuring a bed covered with broken shards of pottery and glass under a delicate sheer bed cover), Cry Pattern (a documentation of Shamsa’s grief process after a family bereavement), and Inheriting Quiet, a series of traditional lullabies.

Talking about the latter, she says, “The lullabies were recited to me growing up – they talk about how a woman should act and behave. But I wanted to show that it’s impossible to live up to these ideals and be completely perfect all the time. This goes against what it means to be human.”
While her work is filled with femininity, fragility, and vulnerability, it also conveys strength. “I had one visitor describe it as ‘soft violence’, and that really stayed with me,” the artist explains.

“Seeing a collector instantly connect to some of my pieces that were so personal and intimate made me feel totally understood.”

“I feel like Abu Dhabi is the place to be, for artists. It’s an amazing place to create.”

“Others say it’s like walking into my mind,” she adds. “Creating it was healing journey. It’s about emotions that appear to be resolved but then keep coming back. I hope people can relate to it on many levels.”

Ahead of the exhibition launch, Iris Projects arranged for Shamsa to complete a year-long mentorship programme with art curator Nadine Khalil. The artist explains that the process changed her far more than she expected. “To be honest, I wasn’t really convinced that I needed to be mentored,” she declares. “But it helped me evolve in so many ways. It taught me to listen and understand myself, and I did a lot of work inwardly. I was never told what to do directly but encouraged to ask the right questions and create in a genuine way, without just focusing on the finished piece.”

Along with having Iris Projects as a platform and support network, Shamsa is also part of Studio Entitled, an art collective that’s made up of eight Emirati female artists. “I feel like Abu Dhabi is currently the place to be, for artists,” the creative asserts. “It’s an amazing place to create. At the collective we’re all different ages and from different backgrounds, and we constantly learn from each other.”

Shamsa also encourages art aficionados to visit her at her studio. “I enjoy intimate conversations more than public ones,” she confesses. “I also think people view my art differently when they’ve seen how it is created.”

O Jewelry was one of the brands selected to be sold in the newly opened Zayed National Museum – it was so popular it sold out within the first week. Her recent growth as an artist has impacted the way she designs, the artist explains. “Spending such a long time in the studio has helped me understand that jewellery can absorb memory, and that it becomes an extension of a person,” Shamsa notes. “So, I am currently really enjoying working on some very personal and unique bespoke commissions.”

Further, completing her debut public art sculpture for ADREA required Shamsa to create art for a completely different and very diverse audience. “Khafar is inspired by the first Arab female rider,” she explains. “It represents the shemagh and is a tribute to women and their strength, power, resilience and elegance.” “I love seeing so many people from across the world interacting with it and appreciating it,” she concludes.