Faika Al Hassan
Born in Bahrain with a degree in Economics from the University of Baghdad. Faika Al Hassan studied fine arts and painting in Bahrain and Lebanon to become an active artist for over a decade now. In her early career, her works centered on depictions of women, the body takes center stage. Since then the artist has shifted to a more pared-down approach, in which small human figures inhabit large and anonymous spaces.
While not overly political, Faika Al Hassan's paintings at times contain allusions to the politics of power and violence. The overriding message though is that of our own insignificance in the large scheme of things. The small human figures in her paintings travel the canvas in large numbers and at times in groups, yet are all isolated from one another. They travel along paths and may not understand where they are heading. At times it seems that the figures are trapped by the rectangular canvases they inhabit as if in a maze. The atmosphere is variously staked to hopeful, depending on the artist's use of color. In some of the paintings black, white, and shades of gray dominate, with just a few touches of red. In others, the individual figurines are painted in a myriad of colors.