Artist statement

I have been painting since I was a child in the land of the cedars, the land of my ancestors. Since 1989, I have been living in Canada, Quebec, my new home. Here the snow-covered fields and frozen rivers inspire me as I find, in the long months of white peacefulness, an opportunity for growth.

Not that I have forgotten the warmth and balminess of the Levant, but I find this newfound serenity expresses itself naturally into both my drawings and paintings.

I work on canvas and wood. I use my palette knife, brush, and fingers to shape materials that reference various childhood memories like acrylic, oil, cloth, paper, sand and powder. My paintings incorporate techniques such as collage, folding, printing and drawing.

My art is not anecdotal. It expresses my innermost self. Through the use of color, form (geometrical, morphological, anthropomorphic), texture, movement and the interplay of light and darkness, I seek a clarity that mirrors my own search for spirituality and awareness.

I am now continuing my research using my preferred techniques. I like to experiment with textured materials: sand, cloth and paper. In both my paintings and my drawings, I keep expanding on the same concerns, renewing and broadening the possibilities afforded by color and light.

My painterly gesture harks back to abstract expressionism, especially works by Mark Rothko whose paintings – sometimes monochromatic, sometimes composed of large bands of color – possess a spiritual dimension that deeply moves me.

I would like to conclude this statement with a quote from André Malraux:

“Either the 21st century will be spiritual, or it will not be at all.”

Marlène Fayad,

Laval, Quebec, March 2015

Contact:
marlene.r.fayad@gmail.com