Desert Rose in Pink
Vegan silk, 3oo * 145cm, 2o24.
Jehan Ali’s Biography
Jehan Ali (born 1978, Iraq) is the bulb, the idea, with several concentric layers. Unravelling flavours.
A contemporary mixed- media artist and poet, at her kitchen, passionately art stirs: food and food for thought. She composes & renders with words & visuals, using paint, photography, and collage. She sculpts ceramics, plates from scratch and pulls threads.
She earned her BFA in Interior Design from the American University of Dubai (AUD) in 2001. Exhibited Internationally in New York with; Broadway, Amsterdam Whitney Fine Art Inc. At Tokyo, Paris & Madrids’ Contemporary Art Stations. In-flight, Onboart with Vueling Airlines. In Korea with 7th Geoje International Art Festival. In Switzerland with PAKS Gallery, ART BASEL 2022. Also, home locally in: Dubai, at Tashkeel, at House of Talents, The Walk. With Noon Art Gallery & Solo at World Art Dubai, Ahemedia’s Gallery, Rewilding the Kitchen, Fully Booked Dubai Art Book Fair, Alserkal Avenue and Kave, and Dubai Design District.
At Ras Al Khaimah Fine Arts Festival and Museum. & Abu Dhabi’s Rich List. Focal Point Sharjah, Thumbey University Hosptal, Ajman with Hyat Arts.
Member at Tashkeel participated in many creative workshops there. Also, at Sxill, Kalimat Publishing, Blank Canvas, and FabLab In5 at Dubai Design District.
Winner of Power of Creativity, Voices of Tomorrow & Faces of Peace Art Prizes. Contemporary Art Curator Magazine 2021/22.
Winner of the Premier Artist Prize 2024.. Contemporary Art Station.
Her book DELVE An Artful Book by Jehan Ali was released to the world in 2019.
Artist Statement
“I am here and there, at the undulating indents, contriving a thought, sinking in it deeply, to resurface on a paper before it extinguishes in the charcoaled heap. Or blend it brightly on a more rigid or softer surface.
I like to seize fleeting moments and depict them. It begins blurry then focused. Sometimes it starts with a word, sometimes with an image and manifolds from within to outwards, or vice versa. Different angles give different perspectives.
It captivates me to look through the multifarious reflections of a kaleidoscope. Where time, light, vibrant colours, various patterns and events, change constantly, with every rotation and twist. As nothing is stable in this life, but the truth, it impels me:
The purpose of life is to seek the truth… the more you head away from it, the more it gets distorted…
Distorted patterns are intolerable, neither harmonious, nor peaceful, and not even funny like carnival mirrors.
From the havoc, I gather shreds, strips, and pieces, press them gently, stitch them. They coagulate at their borders, layers coalesce, unite and heal to whole.
The chaos is calmed but stillness is temporary. Repeat: Movement either deliberate or rapid, is needed, for a new beginning.”
