Using the ocean as her muse, Dina Khataan, award-winning and internationally-acclaimed self-taught epoxy resin artist, just launched her newest collection of art pieces. Hailing from Alexandria and living in Cape Town for 14 years, and drawing from aerial imagery of beaches and scenes found in nature, she brings a bit of nature into your space with every lucid seascape piece.

“I am an abstract expressionist artist specializing in experimental fluid art. Resin is my game. I use art along with alchemy to make captivating artistic pieces that shine just like glass," Khataan told CairoScene. "My techniques are far from the standard artist’s ways of painting, and hence, my tools are very different from the typical tools used by artists! I pour, I blow and I torch! In fact, you have to see it to be able to imagine how this magical art comes to life."

She won the Global Art Award in 2018 for 'Innovation Art' held in the Palm, Dubai and was handed her trophy by UAE's own Sheikh Saeed Bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan. During this year's World Art exhibition in Dubai, she launched a luxe collection of lacquered black art painting with explosive colour combinations, using only alcohol and various inks. She is currently working with various interior designers and design companies on collaborations involving tables and installations in both Cairo and Dubai.

"My grandfather was my childhood 'art mentor'; a fine painter and a sculptor who was heavily influenced by Japanese art. I was the only grandchild allowed in his workshop. He paved my way to be artistic," she said."15 years later, I accidently came across a video online of painting using pouring techniques. I then stayed up all night until dawn for a week researching the science of fluid dynamics, watching videos, reading articles, and writing down data findings until I sourced all the materials I decided to try, and I started my first piece of art. Immediately, I fell in love with the aesthetics, what a beautiful marriage between alchemy and art, complexity and beauty, achieved without spending many hours creating one piece - perfect for impatient artists like myself."

Khataan has taught resin art classes in cities all over the world, and will soon announce her first workshop in Egypt, where you can expect live music and tribal face and body painting among other highlights - not quite the ordinary workshop, ha? Using genuine crystals and stones in her art, her pieces currently range from $400 to $8,000.