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Postcards from an artist

A PHENOMENAL 8000 postcards of Dubai's night skyline form the background to a beautiful Arab stallion charging across the six by nine foot artwork being constructed by a visiting artist at the Mall of the Emirates this week.

Renowned contemporary artist and sculptor Scotsman David Mach is a member of the Royal Academy of Arts and has exhibited his work in the world's leading art houses.

Mach is the highlight of Dubai Summer Surprises Art Week at Mall of the Emirates this week and he described his excitement at being in Dubai for the first time.

"It's a real can-do place," he said. "I like all the buildings, the development. It's so hard and fast."

He was inspired by the energy and pace of Dubai which influenced his selection of the rapidly changing skyline of the city and the overlay image of the galloping horse.

"It's got purr and grace and energy, it's raw and unstoppable," he said. "You're not going to stop it and in that way it is like Dubai."

His work, which sells for between US$150,000 and $200,000, focuses predominantly on collage and his unique use of post cards.

He described working with the medium as "like a big dry painting".

Mach said he often used items from everyday life to help connect art with the audience.

"Art is a very complex and pretentious thing sometimes," he said. "I didn't go out and get the best silver and gold, I got postcards."

His use of everyday items like match heads and coat hangers can be seen in his other work with sculptures and postcards and in his collage work of David and Victoria Beckham.

"These materials link me to everyone," he said. "Nobody has to describe to you in art terms what a post card is. It's up to the audiences what they take from the work."

Visitors to Mall of the Emirates can see Mach and his team working on the piece near Zara at the Galleria all this week.