DUBAI: The Syrian artist discusses her 2021 plexiglass work, on view at her solo show “Rose Tinted,” which runs until July 8 at The Third Line in Dubai.
“Rose Tinted” is looking at expectations and how they shape human perception. I’m really interested in expectation itself and the impact it has on how one sees. The actual images and landscapes that I adopt use utopic forms.
There’s a misalignment to the images and the forms themselves — the outer rim and the content within it that tries to talk about this tension between the ideal and the real, or the expectation of something and its reality.
I didn’t want to only refer to the ‘rose-tinted’ view, but that we all have different shades and tints on at the same time: We have cynicism, we have optimism… and we have filters. I think that’s the point I wanted to make: We’re constantly seeing the world through various lenses. The rose-tinted one hinders us almost as much as the darker ones.
“Window Scene” is the only piece that’s actually realistic size-wise. I looked at a plane window’s dimensions and made my quick drawing of the window. I resized it — that felt important to me.
There’s a kind of realism in something that’s very much not real, in the sense that the piece’s bottom image, which is supposed to be this sunset with clouds, is actually the edge of a photographic negative that hasn’t been exposed properly.
So, in some ways, you’re looking at a failure of something. Kant had this idea that objects depend on the subject’s knowledge of them to exist. We’re always seeing through the projections of our own expectations and the failures of those expectations.
In terms of process, I made the drawing of the window and then translated it into a digital illustration for laser-cutting in both plexiglass and wood. All of the images are my own, and are analog. I go through various combinations of images and see which work best together. After I print the image, I cut it to shape the form and then I bind it with screws.
It’s very romantic when you’re staring out of a window. You’re given time and space to be concerned about something that you’re usually not. It’s kind of nostalgic. It’s a moment where you’re tapping into romanticism and idealism.
From the Arab News website.
