Instagram radically changed the art market in less than a decade. Much in the way that poets and authors no longer have to wait for publishers and agents to “discover” them, artists aren’t dependent on galleries. Now the people, the average every day user, decides who they want to support. The gatekeepers — galleries, high-end collectors, dealers, and curators — have had their keys stolen. This artistic democratization has led to the discovery of emerging talents from around the world. 

Maldha Mohamed, a 23-year-old, self-taught oil and impasto painter from the Maldives Islands is one of the brilliant creators who used Instagram to not only be seen, but to actually make a full-time living. 

“I started painting at the age of 3-years old,” says Mohamed. “It’s something I’ve been doing ever since.”

Mohamed can assume the role of both art dealer and artist with social media giving her the ability to market and sell her own work, while circumventing traditional art world tastemakers. In the past, art dealers built and maintained a network of curators and collectors and often pumped lifeblood into an artist’s career. Of course, art dealers, who normally receive 50% for every piece sold, still strategically place works in exhibitions and well-known collections among other functions, but the creator is no longer entirely dependent on them to earn a living. 

“I’ve been a full-time artist since June of 2020, thanks in large part to my social media following. A large and dedicated social media following takes time to acquire, and it has not been an easy task for me as well. I mainly use Instagram as a sharing platform to get my art out there. I’ve been building my following since early 2011 when the platform had just begun to get popular. Over time, as the developers added more tools to the application, I used them to my benefit by analyzing the algorithm and choosing hashtags that have high reach for my target demographic,” says Mohamed. 

Like Mohamed, through social media, artists regularly perform the functions an art dealer traditionally would, including: networking with other artists and high profile users, receiving sales requests through direct messages, analyzing art world trends via the Explore page, and exhibiting their own work in their virtual gallery without the costs of maintenance and real estate. Ultimately, this means the artist keeps all of their sales money and perhaps only pays out to a social media manager or a public relations professional or an assistant to help package and ship artwork to the buyers. 

“Instagram led me to outlets such as my partnership with Return on Art, an online curation gallery based in Austria, which has helped me go full-time. Prior to that, I pursued an art career part time alongside my full-time job of being an elementary school art teacher. After partnering with Return on Art, I made the decision to combine my income and invest in a proper studio space so I could focus on creating full-time. Then, I upgraded tools such as photography equipment, lighting, and other art supplies to maximize and showcase my craft. By doing so, I started to focus on commissions and building up email lists through my amazing followers who played a vital role in allowing me to find various outlets to sell my art,” explains Mohamed. 

Mohamed and other savvy artists aren’t able to use the shopping feature on Instagram to attract potential buyers by allowing them to tap on an advertised product image while scrolling through their feed. As of now, Instagram keeps this feature exclusive for beauty and fashion brands. However artists rely on linking to PayPal, Patreon, and e-commerce sites to process sales instead of purchases going through the platform. Other Instagram features such as Stories, Instagram Live, and video posts allow artists to give followers a glimpse into their creative process and daily lives, which helps to forge a connection with users and buoy their popularity. 

“There are so many tools and functions like in-app paid advertising to make sure curators and galleries see your work, but the most important part is that you find that balance between marketing, putting out content, and creating,” says Mohamed. “You want your profile to sort of be an on-demand, instant portfolio.”

In large part to her visibility on social media, Mohamed’s work has been showcased at many prestigious exhibitions and locations such as Galerie Berlin Baku and the Shangri-La Hotel Maldives

“My art consists of portraiture and emotion depicted via human features. I paint contemporary with hints of surrealism. My work is also full of heavily textures surfaces that contrast striking hues, shadow play, and vivid color schemes to add life and depth. I like to convey the subjects as if they are in a battle against time, where everything is fleeting.”

Her Instagram account @malsart is up to nearly 78k followers and at her current growth rate, will easily pass 100k by the end of 2021. It’s worth noting that the reason her Instagram marketing is so successful is because her work is stunning and she’s identified a niche that seems to be uniquely hers at the moment — Mohamed paints eyes almost exclusively. 

“The reason why my subjects are often depictions of eyes is for multiple reasons. I like to depict my art through fragmentation in a visceral manner and I chose to do this through the eyes because of how viewers are able to interpret information from them. The eyes convey micro-expressions and so much in just fragments of a second,” says Mohamed. “On the business side of art, going into a full-time career as an artist has proven to be a complicated undertaking. You spend just as much time focused on the proper methods of shipping, tracking finances, and pricing your artwork in a way where effort, time, and skill are reflected as you do creating. In the end, I think, that’s all worth it for getting to do what you love.”