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Meet the Artist

Ali

Ibrahim

Drawing and Painting

“I Was Here” is my visual interpretation of depression, trauma, and neglect inflicted on my personal space represented by a series of three 36”x48” oil paintings on wood panels. In classical paintings, still life of food, personal objects and interiors are painted to exhibit the economic and social wealth of a person, or the lack of it. In my work, I am eager to explore how the state of one’s personal space (kitchen, bedrooms, living rooms etc.) mirrors their mental health. Furthermore, in Islam, a mosque (especially Makkah) is called house of Allah. Being the incarnation image of God, mosques are to be kept pristine. While being inside a mosque one must always treat the property as if they are treating God himself with respect and care. In my work, I challenge that notion in my paintings where I denote that I lost interest in the way my house represents me when I lost pieces of myself to during my depression period. I capture the pain of depression in the living spaces rather than the figure to convey that dealing with unresolved trauma cause damage beyond the body. Inspired by Jean-Baptiste-Simeon Chardin’s “The Officers’ Mess or the Remains of a Lunch” my work expands on the idea of revealing the aftermath of a person’s action on items or places to anthropomorphize the depression of the past seven years of my life and the domino effect of hurt that extended beyond my body and mind and into my house. From my experience with stop-motion I consider light as the narrator of the art work. The light source I present in my paintings starts off dim then it gets gradually intense to outline a pattern of behaviours during the ongoing cycle of my depression that starts with recoil to confrontation with the reality of depression. An example of narrative through lighting is the work of David Fincher and his way of unpeeling the psychology of the characters in his movies through lighting. I attentively curated the language of brush marks on the panels for I want them to be chaotic, angry and pronounced to speak up for the severity in the range of emotions of the invisible inhabitant of these paintings. In addition, I chose to work with limited colour palette not only to emulate my idol, but I also take this challenge to mix my own values, shades and colours to reflect on the way I live the cycle of depression with limited resources I possess. This approach was inspired by the tenacious nature of Vincent Van Gogh who painted masterpieces made of loud brushstrokes and limited paint. The series title emphasizes on the meditative nature of the work as an acknowledgment of the harsh reality of living within the cycle of abuse and depression. In addition, the title works as a tool to communicate the fact that I am in a mental space where I have the agency to say I was here.

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AliIbrahim
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Ali Ibrahim is a multidisciplinary -Toronto based- artist. His work encompasses techniques of 2D animation, stop motion, digital painting, drawing with an emphasis on oil painting. Ali possesses a BFA from OCAD with a minor in Creative Writing. His work explores the language of visual narrative beyond the human figure. Ali explores in his work the themes o personal identity, psychology, sexuality, and spirituality of the human individual.
OCAD U - Faculty of Art
Drawing and Painting: Digital Painting and Expanded Animation
Major Completed, 2022
OCAD U - Faculty of Arts & Science
Creative Writing
Minor Completed, 2022

Oil painting

2022, OCAD University GradEX 107
Toronto
2020, Wavelength X
Ignite Gallery, Toronto.
2019, Toronto Uncovered art festival
Toronto
2019, Witness
Handlebar, Toronto.
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