Contemplations
Initiated in California and completed in Paris for a solo show at El Habibi Galerie, Contemplations is a series of figures in moments of reflection. This body of work is a visual ode to stillness. Whether it’s a choice or thrust upon us, solitude isn’t always the blissful monk sitting on the hill. The discomfort to sit still lives within all of us, but so does the capacity for peace. In this collection there is connection, disconnection, sorrow and tranquility – in the form of stillness that life brings us over and over again.
Raisa’s feminine forms fill up each canvas – a subtle nod to the way our thoughts and emotions often fill our own heads. Mostly nude, her figures have surrendered to the ground in sitting or kneeling positions, evoking a feeling of vulnerability that only occurs when we’ve collapsed into our own company.
Choosing to focus on warm and harmonious colors, each painting has a palette that is formed layer by layer. Reacting to each color until a sense of harmony is achieved. The warmth in this palette is certainly pulled from nature, but these tones are far from sleepy. Reds and yellows were chosen to populate most of the canvas, because only when we stop to slow down does our own chaos transmute into a focused fiery flame.
To collect a piece please reach out to contact@saidelhabibi.art
Entertaining my Thoughts
135 x 200 cm
Acrylic and oil stick on canvas
Paris, 2024
A Place to Rest
135 x 170 cm each (Diptych)
Acrylic and oil stick on linen
Paris, 2024
Questioning
35 x 35 cm
Acrylic on canvas
California, 2024
Embodied
35 x 35 cm
Acrylic on canvas
California, 2024
Insights
70 x 80 cm
Acrylic and oil stick on canvas
California, 2024
Self Portrait II
95 x 95 cm
Acrylic and oil stick on canvas
California, 2023
It’s a Remembering
60 x 60 cm
Acrylic and oil stick on canvas
California, 2023
Come Back
60 x 60 cm
Acrylic and oil stick on canvas
California, 2023
Teach me how to listen
130 x 115 cm
Acrylic and oil stick on canvas
California, 2024
Low like the Earth
70 x 80 cm
Acrylic and oil stick on canvas
California, 2024
Can I Say Something?
130 x 120 cm
Acrylic on canvas
California, 2023
We Haven’t Spoken
130 x 120 cm
Acrylic on canvas
California, 2023
Sitting with Myself
96 x 116 cm each (Diptych)
Acrylic on canvas
California, 2023
There’s Hope in the Flowers
96 x 116 cm
Acrylic on canvas California, 2023
Self Portrait I
120 x 120 cm
Acrylic on canvas
California, 2023