‘Harmony in the midst of chaos’

AMMAN — Artworks by young Jordanian artists showing glimpses of stolen encounters among strangers are on display at Amman’s Zara Gallery, portraying harmony in the midst of what appears to be only chaos.

“Encounters” shows that regardless of where one goes, whether we travel or simply wait for our train at a station, we cannot escape other people’s faces as they constitute the all-present background to our life.

Rhythmic brush strokes of bright colours framing passengers’ moods and emotional experiences rather than physical reality make up the canvases of of Ammani artist Aileen Abdo.

Large portraits of rushing people and ephemeral faces captured in an unexpected moment show the struggle of the 25-year-old artist to relate to random emotions.

“My philosophy is derived from the tendency to relate to another person’s feelings of security and stability, loss and, in many cases, identity crises, which all reflect the soul wandering in this world,” Abdo said before the opening of the exhibition.

“I tried to paint expressions of frozen moments using colours that imitate nature, but in an exaggerated way.”

A few paces away, a Fauvist touch characterises the works of artist Dina Fakhri Malkawi, whose fascination with stations as places where all contrasts find reconciliation takes over the viewer, making him realise that his movements are only a quest for something unspecified he lacks.

Malkawi said that train stations and airports bring people together randomly, and despite their schedules, priorities and personalities, they all gather in one place at one moment in time.

“Stations represent a place where all nationalities, races, ages, religions, personalities, colours, bodies and languages can be united and featured in one spot,” the 26-year-old Jordanian said, adding that stations are places where differences become indifferent to everyone.

“I see our lives somewhat like these stations. We keep moving from one destination to another, searching for things. Just like a puzzle, the pieces may seem overwhelming and new, but they all make sense once they are put together. This is the essence of stations: finding harmony and purpose in the midst of what seems to be chaos.”

Combining her love for travel and curiosity regarding people, Jordanian-Canadian artist and illustrator Majd Soudi challenged the limits of new digital media to depict moments and persons she experienced in her travels.

Resorting to a unique blend of digital painting and photography, Soudi transforms photographs into a new work dubbed “paintography”, which makes use of computer software and custom-defined brushes.

“With every work I aim at recreating a glimpse of the soul of the places and people as I saw them, thus revealing their original beauty,” Soudi said.

The exhibition runs until July 2.