Reem Mouasher
Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life. —Pablo Picasso
Love, desire, passion, poetry, graffiti! This series of paintings was inspired by the era of hand-written love letters and borrows the words of the great Arab poets; Gibran, Qabbani, Al-Mutanabbi and Mahmoud Darwish combined with the gestural visuals of street art. In contemplating messages of love, passion, desire today, I realize that we’re more likely to use an emoji than a poem, a spray can than a fountain pen. Yet the tenderness of a message of love is just as desirable on a wall, in an inbox, in a scented envelope or in my case on a canvas.
1. Love Letters: Poetic Graffiti, 120x200cm, acrylic on canvas, 2022
2. Love Letters: Al-Mutanabbi Liainaiki, 28x40cm acrylic on paper, 2022
4. Love Letters: Graffiti Hearts, 28x40cm, acrylic on paper, 2022
5. Love Letters: Gibran On Love, 13x20cm, acrylic on paper, 2022
3. Love Letters: Mahmoud Darwish, Ajmal Hubb, 28x40cm, acrylic on paper, 2022
Art is not what you see but what you make others see. —Edgar Degas
I see the world as a place of wonder and discovery and intentionally strive to keep that childlike delight so that the color and experience of a place are preserved in my mind. When I paint, dreamy versions of places appear, not quite as they are but as elevated memories I have of them where their essence is mixed up with a big dose of hazy nostalgia. During the Covid-19 lockdowns, painting became my escape from stress. I needed to avoid all the places I longed to go because of the imposed confinement so I painted them instead; favorite places from memories of childhood, travels, picnics, walks, hikes even books. I work mostly in acrylics on canvas sometimes adding pastels on top.
