Moving Through The Ether: Miramar Al Nayyar

2 May - 30 May, 2024
  • In Moving Through The Ether, Miramar Al Nayyar unveils a collection of abstract figurative works on canvas, inviting viewers into...

    In Moving Through The Ether, Miramar Al Nayyar unveils a collection of abstract figurative works on canvas, inviting viewers into a realm of recognition and constant metamorphosis. Each 190 x 120cm canvas serves as a conduit for Miramar's endeavour to encapsulate the essence of the natural formations of the desert. Eschewing representation, Miramar aims to distil the essence of these natural phenomena that also lie within natural movement; her bodily movement, onto her canvases —the intricate textures, lifeforms, and undulating terrain—evoking a sense of abstracted organic forms.

    As viewers engage with her compositions, they embark on a journey of perception, akin to deciphering the cryptic language of nature itself. Miramar's artworks pulsate with kinetic energy, presenting formations that are at once organic and unfamiliar, drawing observers into a dance of recognition and revelation. For Miramar, communing with these natural phenomena becomes an almost spiritual pursuit, engaging in a deep dialogue with the subconscious through the medium of nature. She delves into the recesses of the mind until reaching a state she describes as “zero”:

  • Every time I attain that emptiness, I connect with a new resonance. It's akin to being at the heart of a circle, encircled by its expansive circumference brimming with infinite possibilities of existence. In this solo, it feels like a threshold moment, between two opposing worlds: the tangible and the metaphysical. Here, I surrender to being a vessel, letting myself dissolve as I sense the unseen realm infusing the canvas with gentle colours and ethereal forms.

    - Miramar Al Nayyar

  • Through layering translucent pigments, Miramar captures the weight and cadence of human movement, instilling a sense of depth into two-dimensional canvases. Her compositions blend organic and abstract forms, resonating with the rhythmic harmony that underpins movement in the natural world.

    Miramar’s self-developed technique amalgamates an array of approaches to painting, ranging from oil glazing to the thin layering of wet-on-wet paint and airbrushing. Through her process, she aims to encapsulate and share transformative experiences, leading observers to a destination that exists beyond the confines of conventional reality—a space of profound emptiness that's concurrently abundant with possibility.

     

    In a deliberate departure from her previous works, where proportions varied, Miramar opts for uniformity in size and dimensionality across all canvases. This intentional choice provides a cohesive backdrop, allowing the essence of her explorations to manifest unhindered, with the content emerging as the sole variable in the viewer's experience.

  • Miramar Al Nayyar says: 

    “Inspired by the fluidity of motion within the motionless sandstone formations, I entered a state of profound clarity, akin to peeling away the layers of an onion until reaching a state of pure emptiness—a state of oneness. Nature serves as the conduit for this subconscious

     dialogue, guiding me towards a place of egoless communion with all existence.” 

    “I remember passing through the towering sand rock formations along the desert, feeling a burning curiosity unfold with every pattern in the abstract, organic shapes of the mountains. The formations, endowed with erosion lines and colour variance, lend themselves to pareidolia. In the rocks, I saw ocean waves, movements of dancers, and faces of people I had never met. This experience left me with an awareness of a primordial earthly connection, stimulating unexplored parts of my psyche; I found myself in those formations.”

  • About Miramar Al Nayyar
    About Miramar Al Nayyar

    B. 1997

     

    Miramar Al Nayyar is a multi-disciplinary artist hailing from Iraq, currently based between Amman and Dubai.

     

    Al Nayyar’s three-dimensional works reveal her profound fascination with the interplay between nature, kinematic phenomena, temporality, and spatiality. Recently, Al Nayyar has placed her focus on an introspective examination of the nude topographies of desert rock formations and their relationship to the human body.

     

    In her praxis, Al Nayyar employs an innovative methodology to encapsulate and immortalise the ephemeral choreography of motion she observes within the desert-scape. The artist imbues her works with the ceaseless cadence of natural motion and captures the dialogue between transitory forces and eternal stasis.

     

    Full Biography