ShareKUWAIT: Kuwaiti-born visual artist and activist Latifa Alajlan makes her mark on the art world with Franklin Parrasch Gallery. Alajaln is a recent graduate of the School of The Art Institute of Chicago, who now resides in New York, where she crafts thought-provoking works that bridge the gap between conservatism and liberalism. Drawing inspiration from her native culture, surroundings and lived experiences, Alajlan seeks to ignite a dialogue on women’s empowerment.
Through gestural abstraction technique, her artworks explore her journey in discovering her identity as a modern woman within a society deeply rooted in religious history. With strokes of paint, Alajlan emphasizes femineity and autonomy, and by layering patterns influenced by the ornate designs of mosques onto her canvases, she invokes the earthly materials and historical significance of the Middle East and the globe. Kuwait Times spoke to her to learn more about this exceptional artist who hails from Kuwait.
Kuwait Times: Can you provide us with some background information about Latifa Alajlan as an artist?
Alajlan: I am an emerging artist from Kuwait, based in New York City. I recently graduated from the School of The Art Institute of Chicago (MFA), and now I am represented by New York-based Franklin Parrasch Gallery. This is a very unique experience for me as an artist showing in a fair for the first time. As a Kuwaiti artist, I am proud to be showing with Franklin Parrasch at Art Basel, Miami Beach.
Kuwait Times: What themes or concepts do you explore in your artwork, and how are they reflected in your Art Basel debut?
Alajlan: Drawing with paint and graphite, creating calligraphic marks, and then adding oil skins with thick layers of stenciled patterns from the ornament of mosques from Kuwait and architectural buildings around the region that I have seen and experienced in places of worship. The grotesque textures of the paint have been applied with my hands, creating an intimate relationship with me and the painting rather than using a brush, as if I am the creator of all. The oil paint mixed with mica creates a thick, sand-like bodily layer.
Kuwait Times: Have there been any specific influences or inspirations behind your artworks?
Alajlan: I draw inspiration from the Gutai movement, the Baghdad Modern Art group and the women of the New York School.
