Artist Statement

From the many borders I have crossed worldwide, my artwork is mostly influenced by the unique architecture in the cityscapes and street scenes of the United States and Saudi Arabia.  I intend for my art to introduce the historic and contrasting cultures of these two nations by showcasing those unique architectural styles, and by exploring the narratives of each street scene.  I am specifically focusing on the cities of San Francisco in the United States and Jeddah in my home country of Saudi Arabia because I want each of these nations to take notice, and to discover each other’s precious heritage.  The beautiful stories of these diverse streets sing about the rich tales of these civilizations to me. I feel an emotional connection to these places, and  I want to express these feelings through my paintings. I am looking for unique architectural elements that distinguish these cities and their cultures. I want to convey the sense of loss today with cities becoming increasingly alike in their appearances. I feel I am losing a connection with society, and painting helps me keep that.  

These cities that inspire the scenes I am painting contain multiple diverse cultures and feature traditional architecture from various periods of the past few hundred years.  I have visited several interesting historic streets, lanes, and alleys in Jeddah.  In San Francisco, my focus is on finding the iconic Edwardian and Victorian houses of this area because I am attracted to the beauty of the European influence on American buildings. These are realistic works that I am doing, though. For example, when standing in front of my piece” Walking through al Harah” I see liveliness in the warm color schemes - brown and orange on the sand floor with a bit of blush in the shadows - while the texture of the paint shares how the walls of this building have aged.  In” Walking Through Fillmore District,” the great Edwardian architecture and beautiful environment show how life is simple.  The texture in the trees, combined with the varying color temperatures of foliage, breathes simple life into the painting.

I have lived in both Jeddah and San Francisco.  In these scenes, I see the suffering, sadness, and happiness of the countless people who have lived in the buildings and walked the streets.  They have influenced me so strongly that I am driven to share these different cultures and background stories through my cityscape paintings.