DHAHRAN, 21 March 2008 — Lamis Abdo’s art not only reflects her intellectual faculty but also displays her mastery over the mediums and styles she uses to portray them.
Her show “Tranquil Evolution” opened on March 16, 2008, at Helen Al-Ammari’s Arabian Collections Gallery, Rashid Mall, Alkhobar in the Eastern Province. It is open until March 23.
On display was a thematic collection of her recent work rendered in acrylic, glass, metal and fabric. Her work revolves around an ecstasy of devotions, a celebration of life and a tenacious desire to inform and enlighten. She cherishes poetry of yesteryears and creates an altar of chromatic textured surfaces to revere and honor them.
Lamis approaches her creations based off a written verse. The text becomes the focal point of her art and she builds it up with fonts, color and texture. The conceptual message is then radiated beyond the canvas in some cases, by her decision of not framing the artwork. She says that the context of her message should have no boundaries, and no limits to whom it can reach.
Growing up in Jordon as an only child to her parents, Lamis was not wont for company. She was surrounded by her extended family. When she moved to Saudi Arabia in 1996, after marrying Khalid Alnatour, she found her new environment a little secluding.
Living in a compound and not knowing many people she decided to join Dhahran Art Group, to practice her art. She soon found herself in the midst of another family, her artist friends who were in similar situation as her. This group with its multicultural artistic backgrounds reinforced her beliefs that art is all encompassing and homologizes all ethnicities.
She developed and evolved her own style of interpreting her artistic message and now is well on her way to be identified as the sole proponent of her unique lettering.
She formulated the font for her verses by basing it on a variation of the Margribi script called, Al-Qundusi. This development gives her the freedom to improvise and characterize the script as she executes her composition, making the message subtle or stronger as the text dictates.
A series of work entitled “Wisdom” based on the sayings of Ali ibn Abi Talib is done with subtlety and innovation. Her text is primal and educing and she brings the message forth by painting the background in earthy tones.
She just hasn’t restricted herself to acrylic and paper; she uses glass, metal, metallic powders and fabric to adorn her arrangements. Her choices of materials are totally based off her primordial ideas. The essence of what she is depicting has to match with material she is using.
In her representation of the whirling dervishes, she uses glass and metal. It is a dichotomous arrangement where the transparent and substantial merge to bring form and shape. It is like the mystics’ philosophies where the known and unknown are always linked.
Textures are important enhancements to Lamis. “Textures can communicate a lot “she says. I get limitless different feeling from different textures.” She creates layers in her work by texturing some of text, making her ink thicker or thinner as she feels. The idea is to “sincerely and honestly divulge the message in my art.”
She keeps experimenting and goes through dozens of composition before she finally decides on one. Her most recent work also includes a series of acrylic compositions of verses from the Holy Qur’an. She has improvised her fonts further, and given the finished painting depth, by adding on more layers of color and text. There are powerful messages in her works, and her creative enhancements’ around the texts create balance and harmony.