Burn the Witch

01 /10/2019

Burn the With is a group show that took place in October 2019 at the Safehouse is Peckam. It was curated by Zeena El Tai and brought together a group of female artists with works ranging from paintings to sculpture, to performance and sound.

This exhibition had the intention of shedding light onto the inherent fear of the female (women seen as witches, as these creatures holding strong intuition a certain 6th sense sometimes seen as a power, and woman as being the source of life)

I was really excited to be showing work in a “run down” space, where paint would peel and stairs would crack. The space already holds such a strong character and aura that it automatically give a certain atmosphere to the work and can influence its reading.

My practice being all about textures and the “insides”, I felt that the space came as a nice analogy. The cracked walls and broken structure uncover the insides of the building, the same way I try to uncover a certain internal reality, showing what “lies under”

We usually encounter white, controlled, and clean spaces when going to exhibitions, gallery spaces being seen as this “white page” that could host any type of work and needs to be adaptable.

The idea of stain and making stains is central in my work; I found this experience really inspiring, because seeing any type of artwork in a “stained” place - when we usually encounter art in a neutral space - makes us realize what works and what doesn’t. I felt that the works and the space were communicating and in a way made for each other. I since haven’t exhibited in such spaces but kept this in mind, and the interest for abandoned houses and warehouses kept growing in my house. There is something quite magical in a space that hold a memory and can inspire you some history by just stepping is. Although holding a certain hostility by the abandoned and sometimes haunted feel, I see a lot more warmth than in usual gallery spaces.

Angela Willament has 6 toes

11/10/2019

Angela Willament has 6 toes is one of the series of variety nights hosted and curated by Katie Grenville, Rachel Londsdale and Kyran Kiernan Gilbert. After previously showing a stop-motion during one of their previous nights, I had so far never done any kind of performative work.

My background in illustration gave me however an idea to combine performance and drawing. The place that drawing occupies in my practice is central and something I always do. It is my way of writing and taking down notes, but also tell stories, and keep an archive of my memories.

I got inspired by the french “concert dessiné” concept that is very popular amongst illustrators and that combined a live drawing show projected onto a screen while live music is being played (band, musician, singer…). I however added a twist, where the performance would come as a pair (one visual artist vs one musician), and this pair would create an audio visual conversation (the drawing being inspired by the sound, and the sound being fed by the drawing taking life as it goes)

For this performance I was collaborating with Ellis Berwick, a third year student using sound and alternative instrument as a central part of his practice.

When we look at a work, we usually see the finish product. The artistic process is a mysterious one that happens in the backstage, hidden from everything. I used the “concert dessiné” as an opportunity to tell a visual story that would be amplified and immersive thanks to the sound, but also to show the “alive” nature of some material and that tell a story in themselves. Materials can act in an unexpected and free way that sometimes go out of our control. In a live drawing performance I give them the space to speak and in a way give them life for the span of a performance.

Not only this experience showed me that performative drawing could become a bigger thing and something to develop in the future, but it also thought me new ways of playing around with things and approaching drawing as a whole.

Four hands meet

15/11/2019

Putting this event together appeared to me as a natural and obvious response to my (first ever) drawing performance I did during the last variety night (Angella Willament has 6 toes) and I was really curious to collaborate with peers and see different acts bring their parts and personalities to the “concert dessiné “

I was pleased to see, as the event would unfold, that everyone had such defined and different styles keeping the event on this balance, in between intensity, darkness, but also naiveté and softness.

This experience definitely pushed me out of my comfort zone, and with the help of technician I learnt a lot on the technical aspect of putting a show together (how to film, how to use a video camera, how to set up the whole thing so that it would be practical and comfortable for performers… etc)

This experience also thought me how to find quick and creative solutions to problem that would arrive at the last minute; on the morning of the event, one of our visual artist’s musician cancelled without any notice and we feared that we had to remove the first act all-together. It pushed me to get out of my shell and ask around the studios (across disciplines) to see if anyone would be interested in making sound.

Sam Nicholson and Jessica Patrick Hopper spent that morning rehearsing in HEAVEN and this completely improvise pair ended up giving a perfect introduction to the night.

The positive responses and feedbacks I had from peers, friends, and tutor gave me the necessary encouragement to want to continue organizing future shows and collaborating with several musicians.

Elbow room

04/12/2019

The Elbow room shows, are event organized by the PTBM department and that include everything that ranges from performances, to video work and sculptures.

For this occasion I was contacted by one of the PTBM students (Alice Karsten, who was also the one who filmed Four hands meet) and she asked if I had anything that could fit with their event. I decided to show an old stop motion from my Illustration days and that was entirely made out of paperclips.

Penultimatum (Copeland show)

06/03/2020

This experience also gave me the opportunity to exhibit work next to Hanne Peeraer, something we both always wanted to do but never really had an official opportunity to do so. It happens that the works we both chose to exhibit at the Copeland Gallery complemented each other really well in the colours and the softness of the works.

It was a way for us to physically see our works on a same wall and have an idea of what we could associate our work and collaborate on future projects and exhibition.

Penultimatum was Wimbledon’s yearly painting group show that took place at the Copeland gallery.

All 64 painting students were showing works and came together with the support of our tutor to put a very satisfying show up.

Before starting with the hanging I was worried about our big number and how this would translate in term of taking space, and general organization. I was however happily surprised to see that everyone in the year was present a brought their parts to make an exciting and well curated that ended up running really smoothly.

Accidental wonders

15/05/2020

(cancelled workshop at the British Museum due to the current circumstances)

Last year’s PPD experience offered by Wimbledon college gave us the amazing opportunity of giving workshops in the Prints and Drawings department of the British Museum. After attending several sessions where Sarah Jaffray would guide us through the making of a workshop, some of us ended up giving out the workshops ourselves, and I personally had the chance to give two workshops in 2019.

This experience was enriching and stimulating as it was something completely new to me and made me realize that education was something that was definitely worth looking into. I found the contact between me and the visitors a lot more fluid that I would’ve ever expected, and found that speaking about drawing (and inherent part of my practice) was something I really enjoyed. I have always tried to create a new relationship between drawing and “amateur artists” as I feel that it sometimes scares people who generally associate drawing and at making with technique.

These workshops were a great opportunity to explain and encourage more people to draw, or at least not be scared of the “flaws” as they are part of our very personal line and signature.

Ever since these two workshops, Sarah has been in constant contact with some of us, keeping us updated with opportunities for exhibitions and future workshops.

I was going to give a third workshop that I had started building over the winter, but it had to be cancelled unfortunately due to the current health crisis and might be rescheduled for a later time.

The workshop would’ve been called “Accidental wonders” as I wanted to centre my theme around the concept of accidents in the artistic process.

Here is my short proposal for the workshop:

In this workshop I aim to focus on accidents that occur during artistic creation and process. Accidentals discoveries are a big part of my practice in the studio, but also, looking at artist’s works throughout history, accidents always occurred to me as something that came as a revelation, becoming an indispensable component.

Whether artists intend to put themselves in situations that pushed them to create artwork with an unexpected outcome, or if they occurred completely randomly (e.g someone spilling their bottle of ink) they often guide us or offer a new view on the work itself and the use of materials.

Run off the mill

20/05/2020

The best part of this event is that it really encouraged us to “think outside the box”, or think outside our usual ways of understanding and using technology. The intention was to use “common” tools of the everyday (smartphones, facetime, video-recording) and transform them into real tools of art making. Calling each-other through facetime became not only a way of keeping contact at a distance, but also actively creating art at a distance.

Quarantines and pandemic are not common events in a lifetime and are not things that usually happen often, but something we all experience daily is being far away from people we love, and distance is a very common thing.

This project not only reflects the times we are living at the moment, but is also a poetic metaphor for being separated, far away form someone we have a connection with.

It is definitely something that we will keep working on and expanding in the future and that we are to this day still experimenting with weekly.

Margarita and I recently sent our video to the online PTBM showcase lead by Ursula Pelzcar and Jack Perry, along with some questions in relation to the project and the way quarantine affected our practice and inspired us in other ways.

As part of their series of variety nights, Katie, Kyran and Rachel organized an online, virtual show to keep the ball rolling although in quarantine and keep artists connected, stimulated and inspired in these difficult times we live apart, and through our screens.

For this event, Margarita Ieva Loze and I decided to collaborate on a drawing project that would take the form of video. Both our practices revolve a lot around drawing, and the intention was to create a joint drawing even though from afar and separated by 2800 kilometres (from the UK to Latvia)

Not only we had a lot of fun doing and experimenting with that project, but we also felt that it was a nice way to talk about a difficult situation without mentioning any of it, as well as sublimating it.

We tried to create a visual bridge by merging both our worlds using transparency, that would then give life to a final drawing that only exists digitally, and where each one of us has each separate components that only makes sense when brought together.

Hoist Contemporary

Date of launch yet to be announced

One of the magical things with living in London is that it gives you constant opportunities to build friendships with people that come from all over the globe and that in work in such various fields.

During my first year in London I met an Italian couple, Elena Alberti and Alberto Benza who were living in here for almost ten years. They both always had a very big interest in art and were close to the art world.

They have been back in Milan since last year and contacted me very recently, explaining that they were on the way of developing an online platform called Hoist Contemporary where they showcase artists from all around the world.

Following our first contact, they asked me to send them some pictures of my work and sent me back some questions in the form of an interview to fill out.

You can find the platform here.

The questions were:

Q: Hi Sarah, you studied art in Lebanon where you're originally from and then you moved to London where you live now to continue your studies. Would you like to tell us a bit about your background?

 Hello to you both! Thank you for virtually having me while quarantining.A bit about my background, I am originally Lebanese and partly French.

I graduated from ALBA (Academie Libanaise des Beaux-Arts) in 2017 where I studied Illustration and Comics for three years. The time I spent there was crucial to my understanding of what really makes me tick when making art; and although being enriching, what I learned most was that illustration was definitely not my thing. Some people just have a talent for visual narration, and I was definitely not bringing justice to the amazing talents in illustration.

Working at a desk on a rectangular paper, on which I have to draw more rectangles, in which I have to insert speech bubbles just made me claustrophobic. Like trapped in 2D square myself.

It however kept sending me hints that what I was thriving for was to expand and explode onto the walls and into the space. That’s when I decided to move to London and continue my studies in fine arts at Wimbledon college of Arts (UAL).

I am actually meant to graduate in 24 days with a degree in Paintings. I can tell you that London was exactly the kick in the butt and mind expander I was in need for a long while.

Q: How different is the art scene in UK compared to Beirut? 

Wow… the differences are so multiple that I wouldn’t know where to start. What would make sense for me to do for you to understand the source of these differences is to explain the social context in Lebanon. Freedom of speech and expression are very different concepts here and there, as censorship is still a thing in my country. On top of that, our politicians are well known to suck any type of funding into their pockets, so I can let you imagine the place that occupies Art and Culture in the (inexistent) budget.

That said however, there are incredible and willing independent groups and collectives that always keep the ball moving, putting up shows and events, which are never discouraged by the never-ending crumbling chaos that is Lebanon.

One thing I know for sure, is that the Lebanese Art scene is far from being short of talents, nevertheless a massive societal upheaval would be necessary to move art to the forefront.

That being explained you can imagine that in the UK I felt I had space to breath, talk, be and say what I wanted.

 Q: What is behind your work? Which messages you want to deliver through your art?

When asked this question I am always tempted to say that I am an artist without a message. Far from saying that the work I make is empty. Instead, I see art making as a vital necessity and that is why I make it. I have of course my interpretation of my work but always try saying as little as I can to avoid freezing it into my vision, and allowing the viewer to project as much as possible.

But if I had to roughly explain it, I would say that all the pieces I ever created are always centered around one point: the body.

Because we all have one, it is though it that we process and experience the “things of life”.

It is this very “physiological body” that binds us to this fatality of living, to our immediate reality, to one other, and that enables us to relate to each other.

In a word, it is our big box of flesh that makes us human… and vulnerable.

Q: Any artist in particular who influences your work? 

Every single artist that falls under the category of Outsider Art is a massive inspiration to me. Coming back to that “necessity of creating”, when confronted to such work - that is often made with very limited materials and technique - what seeps from every pore is the burning desire to make and say something.
These artists create compulsively, obsessively, but not to please anyone, or any art market of any kind - they just do. And because they have no intention of being original or revolutionary, that is exactly how they achieve it.

There is in their works an honesty and rawness rarely encountered in art.

I could cite from the top of my head Augustin Lesage, Aloïse corbaz, Adolf Wölfli, Guo Fengyi, Henry Darger, Mr.Imagination and many many many more.

On a more contemporary note, an artist that has been present with me these past few years is Cuban-American artist Ana Mendieta. Her work is based around video and performance art. A recurring theme amongst her work is our connection to Mother Earth from which we come and to which we go back. A theme I think is crucial in the times we’re living.

 Q: How's your creative process? Do you have blurry ideas which take shapes step by step or it's more an instinctive approach following the flow of the moment?

I think my general approach of art making would fall into the category of intuitive creation and playing around with things. But at the same time, it varies from project to project; sometimes I come to the studio with a defined idea for a piece, and often while working on this idea, experimentation leads me on another path, discovering new things as I go, mainly through accidents. But then sometimes I have the desire to play around with a material without knowing where it will take me, and the projects take shape as I go.

One thing I always do though is draw; drawing has a huge importance in my practice. It is my way of making notes. Whenever I have an idea, be it for a painting, sculpture or installation, you can be sure that I will always have a preliminary sketch of it (or ten).

Q: More in details, what about your technics/ tools? ( materials, kind of colours etc...)

I like everything that looks fleshy and earthy.

I don’t necessarily only use natural materials but the synthetic ones I use surely will end up having a very organic and alive aspect, often repulsive as though it was rotting.

Because I work as much in 2D as I do in 3D, the materials I use vary from coloured inks, paints, latex, silicon, dried flowers and plants and much more.

Q: We believe it's important to build your own style as young artist, do you find it hard to develop a distinctive signature or does it come out naturally?

I actually try not to think about that when making work. Wanting to be innovative is an easy trap to fall into, and an unproductive one. I think that as long as you are completely true to the things you are trying to say and convey through your art, your signature will automatically be distinctive.

We all have different interests, tastes, cultural backgrounds, music we listen to etc. All this database combined with a good dose of dedication can only lead to a distinctive signature... I think

Q: Do you feel Contemporary Art is going to any particular direction and new artists need to follow the trend and the Art Market or is there still intellectual freedom?

I feel there is always something trendy, because we live in a world of trends. Before that we had movements. Now that art movements are gone and things such as Art fairs exist there will always be trends. But if I have to be honest, all this seems far away from my reality and I don’t really keep track of trends. Sometimes, I still feel I live in the 1900s and can be such a romantic in my way of seeing art.

To be quite frank the question in itself caught me off guard and I had to do a quick search of current trends to see if I could put my work into perspective. But my researches ended up being unfruitful because all the sources I consulted kept giving me opposing results.

That is why I never bother myself with questions of whether art fits the Art Market or not. At the end of the day it also has to do with your initial motivations for making art - are you making it for the sole purpose of making money or is it something else?

Of course all artists, me included, want to be able to live off their art, but for me, certainly not at the expense of compromising who I am and what I want to say.

I am extremely stubborn, and will always try to impose my own intellectual freedom even if deprived of one.

Q: Do you reckon are out there independent art galleries, art fairs who give enough space to young artist? 

Yes definitely! In terms of art funding, open calls for artists and residencies, if you search a little bit you end up finding a lot. And that is one of the reasons why I wanted to move to London. It always appeared to me as such a vibrant city, where a lot happens at the same time.

Undoubtedly, because everything happens at the same time competing for the limited spaces or funding available brings up challenges.

Q: London has always been an international centre supporting young culture, artists, musicians. Do you think is still a destination for opportunities or it changed in the last few years? 

I have only been here for three years so I wouldn’t be the best judge of that and can’t really compare to what it was before. But as I said, London hasn’t disappointed me since I’ve been here.

What is actually truly magical in London is all the encounters and friendships you build with people that come from all around the world (like you guys) and this also builds a strong network that can open even more opportunities.

Q: Are you planning to have any shows soon? 

The show I was supposed to be part mid-June was my end of year degree show that would’ve taken place at our Wimbledon campus. Due to the circumstances, it had to be cancelled and is now being moved to an online alternative. This event will be a virtual show alongside my other 63 fellow artists/graduates to be.

Hopefully, if everything goes well, the university is also planning to have a physical, official show that would take place around November!

Q: Where do you see yourself in few years time? (still London, Paris maybe? back home?)

Such a strange question to be answering, when for the first time in my life, (because of the current crisis), the future has lost all substance and meaning for me.

But yes, I will most probably still be here for a little while, as I feel I haven’t extracted everything I wanted from London. Three years passed right before my eyes and I still feel I have things to discover here.