Gallery talks with Forme Femine
For our ongoing group exhibition "Interconnected", in collaboration with Arneli Art Gallery, we explore each artist’s creative process and the fundamental themes reflected in their works.
INTERCONNECTED - A group exhibition of 18 women artists from across Africa and the Middle East; showcasing 36 works in a variety of mediums and perspectives outlined in paintings, mixed media and digital art. Bordering between the known and the unknown, abstraction and figuration; the selected artists examine the interconnected complexities of human experience detailed through distinct artistic styles and approaches - in personal theory and form.
In conversation with Dzovig Arnelian
Dzovig Arnelian is an experimental Lebanese - Armenian artist with a Masters Degree in Fine Arts. She is a bold feminist artist who primarily works on themes such as gender roles, women empowerment, and patriarchy criticism, among others.
Her artworks involve working with a variety of materials and translating them into various mediums such as paintings, body prints, prints, photography, amongst others. The most intriguing aspect of Dzovig's body of work is her daring portrayal of themes, which frequently surprises the audience with its intimacy and fearlessness.
Dzovig Arnelian - "A tender shell", 2021, Mixed media on canvas
What inspires your style?
The search through oneself is what inspires my style and body of work. My approach to artistic exploration is daring, feminine and often considered bold. I am highly inspired by the human body, the female figure, female sexuality as well as the soul and body relationships.
What sort of experimentation has led you to your current style as an artist?
Diverse sorts of experimentation led to my current style as an artist. Playing around with different mediums like photography, painting, engraving, body art and mixed media has led to my current multidisciplinary work.
Why did you start making art? How did you kick-start your artistic endeavour?
I started drawing at the age of 13 and my uncle had adopted my artistic skills and pushed me towards pursuing this dream. I had some private lessons as a teenager with local artists yet the biggest change in artistic exploration occurred through the academic education that I have received. Joining the Lebanese University of Fine Arts has been one of the best things that has happened in my life where I have discovered myself first and secondly my artistic tendencies and identity.
What other artists, genres or movements do you draw inspiration from?
I am highly inspired by photography and in particular by works of a young American photographer, Francesca Woodman, which I have done my Masters degree in Arts about.
What do you do to get into your creative zone?
I like listening to music and seeing the works of other artists. I find that quite very inspiring as it pushes me back to my creative zone.
What are the biggest challenges you've had in your art?
The biggest challenge that I've had has been the search for oneself through artistic exploration. Finding the answers to the big questions, What do I want to say? and how do i want to say it?
Dzovig Arnelian - "I had a dream", 2021, Mixed media on canvas
If you could change one aspect of society or social issues through your work, what would it be?
Through my art, my biggest and ultimate message is addressing the acceptance of all types of vulnerabilities. With a major focus on female sexuality, my work would promote self love, body care and positive sexuality.
What ultimate messages do your creative expressions convey?
The ultimate form of strength is the complete acceptance of vulnerability.
Are there any thoughts you wish to share in relation to the theme of interconnectedness? (the impact the global events of the last 3 years have had in your artistic endeavours as a female artist)
As a female artist who has been through a difficult and long global phase, I would admit that this has been a really challenging period for me as a person and as an artist but it has been a very educational period as well. For the first time a single pain has united all nations and all cultures. This togetherness has connected the whole globe for the first time and this interconnectedness has become a new form of art in itself.
Has technology had any impact on your artistic practice? In what ways has it affected or shaped it?
Technology has had a great impact on my artistic practice. In the techniques that I use to implement my projects all through to the way the artwork is displayed on numeric platforms. Technology and the internet has become in itself a new medium for artistic exploration, display and collection and has immensely affected the lives of artists nowadays.
Are there recurring themes in your work, or any that have emerged as your work has evolved?
The recurring themes in my works are: self and body exploration, female sexuality, vulnerability and intimacy.
What are you working on now and next?
I am currently working on 2 series. The first one focuses on black and white flower photography and the second one is a colourful documentation of tender and intimate relationships.
In conversation with Lynn Osman
Lynn Osman - "Icarus Fall 2", 2013
Lynn Osman holds a Masters degree in Visual Arts from the Lebanese University and a Graphic Design Bachelor's Degree from the American University of Beirut. Her visual research interests are comparative subculture and underground music production. Lynn’s visual essays are part of the permanent collection of Marguerite Duras Public Library, Paris and were exhibited at the Tokyo Art Book Fair. One of her projects was awarded the Step Beyond Travel grant by the European Cultural Foundation.
Employing a selection of mechanical techniques - drawn from procedural and illustrative influences - Osman portrays visual representations inspired by music subcultures and corresponding musical production processes. She explores conceptual juxtapositions of quasi mismatched depictions, challenging and subverting notions of what appeals to the visual in an exploratory transgression. Through a complex composition of figures, she further comments on sociocultural ideas, reflecting the need to rethink//restage social constructs, stereotypes and notions on gender and identity particularly in the Middle East.
What inspires your style?
Music subculture inspires my style, and musical processes such as cut-up techniques.
What sort of experimentation has led you to your current style as an artist
I experiment with layers of medium in painting, from acrylic paint, to watercolour and oil pastels, with china ink. I also work on collaging images, which inspire the visual representation that I am working on.
Why did you start making art? How did you kick-start your artistic endeavour?
I started making art early as a child and teenager, I did t-shirts, magazines, comics and won prizes at school. After I taught art at school, I pursued my Masters in Painting and Illustration. Teaching art motivated me to kickstart my artistic endeavour.
What ultimate messages do your creative expressions convey?
My creative expressions mainly convey messages about transgression in visual representation and music.
Lynn Osman - "Icarus Fall 1", 2013
If you could change one aspect of society or social issues through your work, what would it be?
I would like to change an aspect of society and social issues in my work, it would be to transgress stereotypes and social constructs, such as identity in general, and gender identity, especially in the Middle East.
Are there any thoughts you wish to share in relation to the theme of interconnectedness? (the impact the global events of the last 3 years have had in your artistic endeavours as a female artist)
These events challenged the various aspects in which interconnectedness is perceived and as a female artist, these global occurrences affected my works, influencing my themes. I prioritised some subjects that I am currently working on, such as environment and identity.
Has technology had any impact on your artistic practice? In what ways has it affected or shaped it?
I am more into manual practice and printmaking, and engage more with mechanical techniques, than technology, in my works.
Are there recurring themes in your work, or any that have emerged as your work has evolved?
The recurring themes in my work are music subcultures and visual representations based on music reinterpretation. I am working on texts for children's books that I want to illustrate. They are about environmental-related issues, to raise awareness among children.
What are you working on now and next?
I am working on texts for children's books that I want to illustrate. They are about environmental-related issues, to raise awareness among children.
In conversation with Elise Zakhour
Elise Zakhour - "Instability 13",2021
Elise Zakhour is a Lebanese artist with an MA in Interior Architecture and in Plastic Arts. She also has a certificate in iconography and mosaics. In her 'Instability' series, Elise discusses a state of instability and confusion through photography and complex digital contrast.
Elise captures monochromatic detailed shots in an elaborate variance. As she examines the different depths of introspection, she depicts delicate emotions of instability and confusion - reflected in the complexity of the perspective she engages in her works. Obscuring the visible and transcending chromatic details, Elise employs minimal tints and desaturation in showing her expressive view and reality of the world.
What inspires your style?
What inspires my style, in addition to the artists I mentioned, is everything that surrounds me and has an influence on my life.
What sort of experimentation has led you to your current style as an artist?
My experience made me the artist I am today. I worked with sculpture, painting, photography and installation... And according to the subject I am working on I choose the material that I use.
Why did you start making art? How did you kickstart your artistic endeavour?
Ever since I was a child (3 years old) I realised that I have a passion for art. While kids were playing I used to take a corner and start drawing. Later on I started to go to an art school (atelier) to improve my skills. And after having a degree in interior architecture I was admitted to the university to study fine arts. I started exposing my paintings at home and then my projects at the university were highly appreciated and I had the opportunity to participate in many galleries and the social media helped me spread my work to a wider audience.
What other artists, genres or movements do you draw inspiration from?
I am inspired by Philippe Ramette, surrealism, and conceptual art.
What do you do to get into your creative zone?
My creative zone is any place where I can see something that attracts me and pushes me to meditate and start a new artwork.
Are there any thoughts you wish to share in relation to the theme of interconnectedness? (the impact the global events of the last 3 years have had in your artistic endeavours as a female artist)
The economic crisis that influenced my country for the past three years and the pandemic that invaded the world have definitely affected my work... I presented the projects 'instability' and 'loneliness'.
Elise Zakhour - "Instability 12",2021
What ultimate messages do your creative expressions convey?
My message is to present the subject in my perspective in a very honest way so that the audience would be open to new perspectives that satisfy their passion for art.
If you could change one aspect of society or social issues through your work, what would it be?
If I can change something I would add art lessons to all the schools and universities and even to the big companies because people should be well educated about art and they can find in art a tool to express themselves in a healthy and creative way.
Has technology had any impact on your artistic practice? In what ways has it affected or shaped it?
Technology is a new medium that was added to artworks. And on the other hand the social media helped the artists to spread their artworks to a wider audience. There is also a new opportunity with the virtual exhibitions that makes it easier for the audience to have access to any exhibition all over the world.
Are there recurring themes in your work, or any that have emerged as your work has evolved?
As for the themes I develop in my work, they are usually themes that once touched me personally and influenced my personal life. I work on them to turn them into something global so that every person can relate to the artwork. I am always working on the variety of themes and ideas, always focusing to capture the details around me...
What are you working on now and next?
Now, I am an art teacher. Lately I was selected to work for a newspaper, to create artworks, digital arts and photography presenting the articles in a creative way. I am working hard to be able to make a solo exhibition.
In conversation with Joanna Raad
Joanna Raad - "Peace", 2021
Joanna Raad is a Lebanese multidisciplinary artist and lecturer. She recently joined AUB as a lecturer at the faculty of arts and art history (FAAH). She has a Ph.D. in Theater, a Master's in Cinema, and a BA in performing arts from the Saint-Joseph University in Beirut (USJ/IESAV). After years of research, Joanna chose to focus the theme of her artworks on childhood and visual memories. In a naïve and Neo expressionist style, she creates vivid compositions of colours, documenting and reconstructing the past in a modern way. “Drawing is an intimate gesture, almost like writing a diary. There is freedom in drawing, as I can quickly and spontaneously express myself within the intimacy of a bedroom or in any public place or even a plane.”
What inspires your style?
Néo expressionism. naïve art. Marc Chagal
What sort of experimentation has led you to your current style as an artist?
The work on my childhood memories
Why did you start making art? How did you kickstart your artistic endeavour?
It’s a need. I liked writing a diary since when i was a kid. I took my first courses at the age of 5, inspired by my father and encouraged by my mother.
What other artists, genres or movements do you draw inspiration from?
Neo Expressionism/ naïve art/ primitive art/ narrative figuration
Joanna Raad - "David Head's inspiration", 2021
If you could change one aspect of society or social issues through your work, what would it be?
Hypocrisy. I would like to invite people to never forget their inner child and stay true to themselves and free
What do you do to get into your creative zone?
play music, attend exhibitions, dance to relief my body from stress
What are the biggest challenges you've had in your art?
Staying authentic
What ultimate messages do your creative expressions convey?
the importance of emotional memory
Are there any thoughts you wish to share in relation to the theme of interconnectedness? (the impact the global events of the last 3 years have had in your artistic endeavours as a female artist)
Paradoxically, it helped find refuge in art
Has technology had any impact on your artistic practice? In what ways has it affected or shaped it?
None yet
Are there recurring themes in your work, or any that have emerged as your work has evolved?
Childhood memories/ Lebanon/ Beirut/ my dad and my grandma stories/ diary mood
What are you working on now and next?
Painting flashbacks/emotional memories in semi-abstract way/ innovations in oil pastel
*A Special thanks to Charlene Chikezie, founder of Forme Femine platform for making all of this happen.
