Born in Dhahran in 1973, the daughter of an oil executive for Aramco, Al Dowayan developed a love of geology as a child and later followed her father into his profession. Having completed a residency at the Delfina Foundation in London in 2009, she quit her job the following year and became a full-time artist. In 2013, she moved to Dubai, where she set up her first studio.. Revealingly, she describes her art as ‘a journey of understanding — it’s just me, trying to figure out my tiny little life’.

With Al Dowayan representing Saudi Arabia at the 60th Venice Biennale, she spoke to Christie’s about singing sands, desert roses, and why so many of her early artworks are now historical documents.

How was your experience of Venice?

It was a wild adventure. I was there for six months working on the project. It’s a beautiful city, but there’s this underlying sense of crisis, both inside and outside the Biennale. Inside, with the artists who are trying to accomplish their visions in such a short amount of time; and outside, because of climate change. It rains too much, you get stuck, everything floods, you have to engage with the idea of rising waters and temperatures. You can’t ignore it in Venice.