IRAQ
SINAN HUSSEIN Sinan Hussein’s whimsical characters appear weightless in sparse environments that indicate a state of limbo. Hussein’s protagonists are depicted in pairs or as lone figures, twisting through open spaces. Lovers are huddled as clusters of mass around which all other elements revolve. To achieve this effect, their bodies are first rendered with a thin black line that creates a shell or capsule, a home for the spirited in need of shelter. This cast is then filled with solid forms and finalised with the layering of washes, creating volume. At times, his characters are canonised with golden halos—some of which grow to enclose the entire figure. In the artist’s latest series Just a Trip, his compositions include recognisable settings, the interior spaces of homes or barbershops. The theme of this body of work is emigration, an experience explored from the vantage point of the artist’s biography. Through surrealist imagery, Hussein attempts to journey to the realm of primordial isolation, returning to the place where dreams reveal the aspirations of the subconscious mind. Surrounded by hybrid creatures—animals that possess human traits such as oversized feet—the artist’s figures appear silent. The wingless birds that hover around them attempt to warn and steer his displaced subjects, who patiently wait for some sort of sign despite visible bewilderment. Other symbolic clues are distributed throughout Hussein’s compositions. Fish figures appear as an indication of seclusion and reproduction, a paradox that mirrors the reality of exile, estrangement in exchange for the possibility of a new life. Hussein’s central man and woman enter his paintings with their characteristic stances, detailed in the positions of their feet, as they struggle to gain traction a new environment. The man’s left foot covers his right, a sign of thinking logically when faced with an obstacle. The woman, however, displays the opposite position, approaching their predicament with imagination and empathy.
Sinan Hussein, Wikipedia Wedding, 2014, 180 × 210 cm, mixed media on canvas
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