Elza Kayal Gallery is pleased to present “Personal Mythologies”, a group show of three extraordinary female artists. The selected works tackle metaphorical and symbolic concepts of community, and also within, a desire for self-understanding and self-healing.

Personal myths develop and evolve from our experiences, from stories that we hear or read, through the cultural and political environment, and through education. It's an open story, constantly changing, updated by influences, not something unreal. Consciously and unconsciously, we all have a deep longing to understand our place in the world and understand ourselves, and we construct narratives to that end. These stories are powerful and captivating, and in spite of their universal frameworks, they are very personal and can have a great effect on us and the viewers. The expressive works straddle the figurative and non-figurative border, often surreal, and tap into the vulnerability and interconnectedness of people.

Artists

Saba Farhoudnia visualizes unfamiliar landscapes in her artistic practice, highlighting our equality and vulnerability to natural forces. Drawing inspiration from personal experiences of alienation and homesickness, she strives to create spaces that convey both union and fragility. Through a fusion of the language of both drawing and painting, utilizing the textures of brushstrokes, geometric forms, and gestural marks, her compositions merge figuration, grotesque elements, and (dark) comedy in a close relationship.

The central theme of her work examines the precarious nature of the present and the uncertainty of the future. She delves into the intricate relationship between individuals and society, dissecting the impact of such constructs as gender, race, culture, politics, economy, nationality, borders, and migration. Through her art, she aims to initiate meaningful conversations about the profound influence of these constructs in our lives. By intertwining figuration and abstraction, she aims to create compositions that zoom in and out, capturing the essence of battlefields or garden-like landscapes. In some works, she adopts a bird's-eye view to explore conflicts and synchronistic events within a single painting. Ultimately, her artistic practice serves as a conduit for expressing personal experiences and sparking discussions on social and existential issues. Through these works, she hopes to provoke contemplation and foster a greater understanding of the world we inhabit.

Klára Lakatos considered the world as a rhythmic variation of beautiful and ugly forces. The vibration of these two opposing energies intermingles in her images. Her creatures, dressed up with specific stylistic features, express the vulnerability and interdependence of humans. Klára’s continuous commitment and search for her place in the community is strongly present in her work. Her characters are always embedded in a group, they are never alone, yet feel isolated. Her personal symbols and rich colors have a strong history and meaning rooted in her Roma culture. They are significant in the expression of the artist's world and conflicts.

Klára’s expressive images are often surreal, shapes and patterns co-existing with figures and shadows. She uses no perspective. Beasts and creatures are almost always lurking among her human characters, the outlets of her inner forces and social struggle. Klára Lakatos has been engaged in Gypsy language education, the organization of folklore clubs and numerous public activities for decades. As a Roma mentor, she was a workshop leader. She paints and teaches with great love and joy among Roma and non-Roma children.

Orange Li’s practice largely draws from her memories, dreams, and intuitive connection between the body and the psychological state of the individual. She investigates different stages and moments of existence, including various changes such as transitions, synthesis and transformation. She is exploring the mystery of changing elements and the inner landscape of its own Divine Comedy.

Her work shows her stream-of-consciousness navigating a path through healing, curiosity and freedom. It is embedded in her personal interests of western and eastern myth, alchemy, ritual, dream worlds, astrology, tarot and the Book of Changes.

Orange’s work searches for the links that connect the human and the natural worlds in an attempt to create a Gesamtkunstwerk (universal artwork), merging different forms of knowledge into her own aesthetic logic.