A large gathering of art appreciators arrived at the gallery last night to enjoy and marvel at Suhair Sibai's splendid art works. It was a warm and enjoyable evening, and we at Lahd Gallery were pleased to see so many familiar faces, and new ones also!
Suhair's large engaging canvases are filled with bright emotionally charged colours yet by contrast harbour a melancholic theme. By doing so she is not only drawing in the viewer, but alienating them also. Through this she is challenging the audience to think about self-identity, their inherent 'biases' and how we have got to our current situation.
Suhair uses the female form for her exploration into identity, and bold, striking, portraits are the result. She was artistically educated in the sprawling metropolis of Los Angeles with its rich and diverse multiculturalism, and Suhair believes that it is the level of diversity that many of us are exposed to that has the potential to cause discord, displacement and division of the self.
Suhair herself puts it:
‘Ideas
and ideals are mingled and morphed; metaphors are understood and misunderstood according
to context and audience; cultures cross and clash. All the while, the authentic
Self – if there is one – is via distortion, alteration, and compromise, made
and unmade, struggling for accessibility to popular culture’.
Truly it is this outlook on life combined with a bold visual style that makes Suhair Sibai's work a truly unique experience.
Sweet Melancholy is on till 6th March 2013.
