Artspace gallery is presenting an exhibition by 17-year-old Moroccan artist Hiba Khamlichi as part of its Young Artist Program. The show titled Measure and Excess, features a series of striking abstract paintings, infused with colour, energy and movement. Khamlichi’s paintings were originally inspired by the Afro-Brazilian sport, Capoeira.
“I began learning Capoeira when I was eight, and was inspired to recreate the same movements on canvas. I called my style ‘painting by Abada’, after the name of the Brazilian Capoeira Foundation of which I was a member. My family loved those paintings and encouraged me to continue with this style,” she says.
The artist works spontaneously using geometric and organic forms, and sharply contrasting colours to create the effect of movement and rhythm in her compositions. So, she was surprised to find out that she was instinctively using in her compositions, the golden ratio and the Fibonacci series, which are the basis of visually aesthetic forms in nature.
“I did not know about these mathematical elements, but after an American art critic pointed out their presence in my paintings, I began researching them. I was fascinated to find out how these mathematical concepts help us to understand the ways in which all the elements of the universe are connected. I am now deeply interested in learning more and discovering new codes and new mysteries related to this divine proportion, and incorporating them into my Abada style,” she says.
Khamlichi’s use of the golden ratio, and the Fibonacci series in her work, imparts a certain beauty and spiritual feel to her compositions; while the bright colours give them a dramatic, dreamlike look. The titles, such as Memory, Take Flight, Delirium and Harmony offer clues to the moods and emotions the artist wants to convey through each work. As the show’s title suggests, her paintings are a perfect balance of measured proportions, and an excess of colour, of mystical stillness and frantic movement.
Measure and Excess will run at Artspace gallery, DIFC until October 5.
