Art on 56^th is proud to announce Local Inspirations, a solo exibithion of works by Lebanese artist Haibat  Balaa Bawab . Her collages and oil paintings depict both urban and rural scenes, where modernity meets nostalgia, vividly telling stories about her inspiring hometown. Weaving memory to reality , the compositions are as personal as they are universal, acting as a window into a familiar and timeless world.

Haibat’s works explore the mediums of collage and oil painting , experimenting with surface,texture, space and color .She begins her creative process by making her own paper and then cutting it up into fragments which she then paints over in motifs using different materials to cerate multi-media surfaces.

Each elements tells a specific story and every cutout carries a unique meaning . The part of the collage through their pattern and color hint at status individuality and personality.

This exhibition focuses on a series of Mixed Media collages and oil paintings that reflect a range of current subjects and memories that encouters in day to day life which are reflections of topical issues and moments.

The process involves creating semi- abstract compositions from motifs and textures that she gathers.Most recently for this collection she prepared the papers rather then using clippings from external sources .

Haibat was born in Beirut in 1952 and received her BA in fine arts in 1975 from LAU and has taught there for 17 years.From 2001 until 2022 she has been the fine art coordinator and instructor at AUST university.

Mia Richa