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Legends and Heroes by Zaina El Said
1 to 30 March 2017
Opening March1 at 6 pm
Zaina El Said’s new exhibition is inspired from the idea of a single hero who existed since dawn of humanity. A hero who transforms in appearance but ultimately represents the same set of values and beliefs celebrated and revered by the masses.
Mythological characters stand witness to this idea; there are heroes and legends that share identical characteristics, yet originate from totally different worlds and cultures. For example, Adam & Eve vs Akhnathon & Nefertiti, Greek Zeus vs Norse Thor or King David vs Circassian L’hepsch. The parallels are endless.
Zaina’s work extends this idea and explores selected modern-day characters who match the definition of a hero or a legend. Men and women across the globe who profoundly left a deep impact wherever they dwelled. Between kings, musicians, artists, gurus and warriors they possess common elements that led and inspired millions of people.
The profound element is what is instilled in all humans, the reflection of what’s within us and what resides in our consciousness and what connects us all as the human race. It is sacrifice, honour, love, peace, freedom, beauty, compassion, and diligence amongst many attributes.
Some of these characters maybe viewed controversial however, ultimately one has to only see the gifts they endowed us with along the path they undertook. The imprints they left in the realm our world that we still celebrate and enjoy. They are extended versions of ancient legends and heroes. El Said selected these legends as they are simply the closest to her heart.
Zaina El Said
Born and raised in Jordan, Zaina completed her higher education in 2001 from the UK in business administration. Amid travels and missions between Russia and Europe, she returned to Amman in 2010 and took up arts as her career path. Being brought up in a family of artists it seemed destined she would eventually follow the household footprints.
Zaina began painting Arab and regional themes and later delved into the world of collage art. Collage art was a way in assembling worlds from already existing places and people. Moving forward with the collage technique, Zaina switched to digital collage mixing both digital and hand cut together in her works.
