ARTWORKS
![The Garden of Desires 1](https://iterarte.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/7f9b052d-d625-4e50-b648-fef0ed096509-l.jpg)
Marwan Sahmarani
NIDHI KHURANA
In this episode during a visit to his Beirut studio, Marwan Sahmarani discusses with Founder Tamara Chalabi his artistic practice; what and who inspires him; […]
Lydia.
Drifting.
Anything with chickpeas and/or feta cheese.
Coffee.
Mount Nebo, Jordan. I often think about the mosaics by the Memorial Church of Moses.
I currently have a desire to explore regions within Greece such as Kastoria and Karpenisi.
My favourite artwork (currently) is Agnes Martin’s ‘Summer’, 1964. I’ve always been fond of Martin’s extensive use of the grid, and in this particular painting, the way the colour bleeds through the lines with varying intensity, I find extremely beautiful.
Tarantino’s Death Proof.
Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca.
Love and Art.
A former tobacco factory turned Contemporary Art and social space in the center of Athens. The intricacy of the roof within the atrium floods the space with almost blinding light.
Anything discarded is a common source of inspiration, from books to forlorn household objects. The way the colours change and transform within the setting of the studio directly impacts my work.
Proximity to the mountains and the sea. Cafes turning into bars. No logic to city planning.
An archaic mirror my great grandfather unearthed in the 70’s in the garden of my childhood home in Athens.
Don’t lift heavy marble things.
Visiting the National Archaeological Museum, going to a life drawing class, having a swim in the sea regardless of the time of year.
Every few months the colour I am most drawn to changes. However magenta remains the most irresistible of all colours.
Favourite art tool is a chicken feather paintbrush my father gifted me from China.
There is certainly an order to the complete mess of my studio.
I became an artist because I can’t not draw.
I think something which remains challenging throughout an artist’s life is the lack of structure and often feeling out of balance.
During an exhibition with the Ministry of Culture, I used goat excrement and iconography pigments.
An artist mentor, who is a friend of mine, recently said “I love your new paintings; they feel less girly- less Powerpuff girls.”
My style in three words… asymmetrical, fragmented, symbolic.
When I got to spend some time on Antony Gormley’s estate in Norfolk, drawing in a beautiful studio surrounded by acres and acres of nature.
I’d quite like to write a story with Leonora Carrington.
The songs selected are associated with intimate encounters with people and landscapes. From the hills of the Peloponnese to the Dead Sea in Jordan. The immediate spark I felt from each song, I played on repeat in the studio, providing me with a rhythm to pursue the surface in front of me- leading me to the brink of discovering something new.