(Seychelles News Agency) - A renowned visual artist and painter from Seychelles, Nigel Henri, has ventured into fashion in partnership with an Indonesian designer to improve the sale of his products amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Henri who specialises in acrylic paintings on canvas by recreating the Creole and underwater scenes is now producing clothes from on his paintings. He will showcase his new collection at the Seychelles Fashion Week scheduled to take place for the first time at the Dubai EXPO from March 16-18.

The Seychelles Fashion week is an annual event held for the past four years in the island nation in the western Indian Ocean. It fuses creativity and culture by bringing fashion lovers from all over the world to Seychelles.

Henri told SNA last week that he has a partner in Bali, Indonesia, Dwi Iskandar, who is designing and creating different clothing items some of which were featured in Seychelles Fashion Week last year.

Like other local artists, Henri had to diversify his creation after facing difficulties to sell his products with the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I had to think outside the box and to showcase the new products I created I took part in the Seychelles Fashion Week.  I wanted to not only sell artwork that people will put on their walls but also make money on the side by doing the clothing basically exploring different possibilities to showcase my artworks and creations," explained Henri.

The painter added that his partner whom he has been working with for 15 years, is a professional designer decides and is the one who decides which material to create what with and what cloth and design are better as a shirt, skirt, pareo, bikini or bag.

Henri said that the products will be available for purchase online.

For the Dubai event, Henri will have mixed themes which will include his ancestors.

 "I have traced them back to the archives with some of the photos I managed to draw and this would be prominent in my collection," he said.

Henri is well-known as a professional artist on both the local and international scenes for the last 35 years.  

He has exhibited in over 45 international solo and collective exhibitions and countless local ones. Internationally, his work has been displayed in many African, Asian and European countries and locally, his painting hangs in the arrival lounge of the airport, in banks and in hotels.

Henri has six art pieces being exhibited permanently in the Museum Zündorfer Wehrturm in Cologne, Germany.