Ghada Zoghbi

Wild Mindscapes

September 4 – 28, 2024

"من عمر الأرض أو حديث التكوين، من صلب الطبيعة او من صنع الإنسان، متجذّرٌ في الأرض أو مرميٌّ أو محطّم، في الحجر حياة، على عكس ما قيل عنه، فهو يروي حكايات التكوين والأمكنة، وحكايات الناس الذين مرٌوا به، احتموا به او حاولوا تطويعه."

“Old as the Earth, or at the core of its genesis, extracted from Nature or crafted by men, rooted in the ground, thrown or broken, a stone has more life in it than we believe. It tells stories of creation, of places, a history of those who have known it, sought refuge in it, or tried to employ it.” 

« Vielle comme la Terre, ou au cœur de sa genèse, tirée de la Nature ou façonnée par les hommes, enracinée dans le sol, jetée ou brisée, une pierre a plus de vie en elle qu'on ne le croit. Elle raconte des histoires de création, de lieux, l'histoire de ceux qui l'ont connue, qui s'y sont réfugiés ou qui ont tenté de l'utiliser. »

  

This series of paintings was initiated while I was sketching sceneries of Lebanese mountains and valleys. I found myself fascinated by the formations of rocks and stones I came across. I found myself enjoying the creative process of envisioning and crafting various stone formations to illustrate in my visual representations. In essence, I was turning back to the stone for inspiration, each artwork naturally leading to the next, and prompting a chain of questions in my mind: where do these imagined scenes originate? Is it truly imagination, or could it be a memory passed down through generations, being revived in my spirit? Could it be the recollections of grandmothers who once inhabited this same landscape and touched the same stones? How many stories have these rocks witnessed, and how many of my ancestors have encountered them? If these rocks can evoke memories, what stones will carry my narrative to my grandchildren, and what tales will they recount?

Ghada Zoghbi