The motivation behind these artworks is undeniably personal. I was living and working in Mar Mikhaël, the same area where the explosion took place. The blast completely shattered my studio and damaged my apartment. Since I paint almost daily, typically if I had not been in my studio, I would have been in my apartment at the time of the explosion. Fortunately, that day I was in neither location. However, the impact of the explosion was the final straw for me, and I made the difficult decision to leave Lebanon. The country had become a place of unending sadness. For me, the "Silos" and the "Explosion" series of paintings serve as a documentation of Lebanon's failure to build a functioning nation, forming a self-portrait of its collapse.
On the other hand, my flower paintings represent my way of overcoming the dark period in my life. Looking back, I now understand that during the years of the civil war, my father, who had a passion for gardening, managed to create a haven of normalcy for me and my sisters. Despite the catastrophe unfolding outside, he ensured that we had a loving home filled with pets, plants, and flowers. Depicting these flowers in my art brings me closer to a time when I felt safe and secure.
