Creative Synergy

Notes on the making of the "Credo" painting, part of a creative synergetic collaboration with music composer Liz Johnson.

The Requiem for Aleppo has triggered a personal connection that relates to migration and displacement, which I can express through art.

The music, written for viola, comprises three parts titled: ‘Meditation 1: Anger, Meditation 2: Falling Tears, Meditation 3: Song of the Water Well Boy’.

The music is emotionally striking; it brings shivers. The inclusion of Middle Eastern tunes within the classical notes creates a contrast, as if a human cry for peace.

Working on this painting was long and painful. My process evolved by mark-making using different mediums and tools, painting fast and intuitively. During this process, I searched for answers: creating and destroying. The work becomes a palimpsest of thoughts and feelings.

One way to describe my working process is like having a conversation with the work.  I question it, I reflect on it, and I work until there is exhaustion and peace, and this is the moment when I know the work is completed.