Artist statements
Full of Hope exhibition Areej Art Gallery – Toronto 2017:
My current project deals with one overriding theme, namely “hope;” and specifically hope for and of liberty, as reflected by two symbolic elements. The first element is represented by the extremities—feet and hands—with their free-flowing movements, compounded in different interlaced compositions marked by spontaneity, in one hand; while the birds represent the second element, that of free movement. Both elements converge in their symbolic meaning, and their representation of motion.
The drawings employ the acrylic on canvas technique. I have, however, added a different medium in one of them, with the aim of creating a relief-type of raised surface on the canvas. This helps highlight the contrast between the black and white, while simultaneously displaying the harmony between the two basic elements—the feet and the birds.
Rana Hatmal
24 February 2017
Last Supper Exhibition – Kozah Art Gallery – The Venue – Beirut – 2014
These paintings seem like amalgamation of formal elements that have been widely exposed to different times, charged with the tearing frustration and rhythmic pulse of ware. On the other hand, they also convey more optimistic suggestions that propose the bringing back of ecstasy, joy and life to the devastated and blackened burnt cities, which have become loaded with shame and indignity.
Rana Hatmal