KHALED AKIL

‘To follow the cosmic order and become one with the universe, I must go to the corners of my mind. At the Event Horizon, the movement of thought is drifting like clouds, colliding like dust from the beginning and glowing with all colours of love, the infinite element of existence.’

The artist aims to depict the unseen, the felt, and the omnipresent.

‘What I see is only chaos, and my consciousness craves order. I must get out of my comfort zone; in other words, I must break the boundaries and come out of myself.’

How can one paint what is within and all around? From the micro to the macro, an overview but also a detail. To portray something that’s never been seen, the artist starts with light, the beginning of everything we perceive, the abstract facets of realities. Akil creates his compositions through infinite strata, one atop the other, slowly building, the artist uses intuition and memories to find balance in the relationship between cause and effect. Dozens and dozens of thin layers create such depth while avoiding impasto.

Oil is the chosen medium, governed by time, the drying process presents and provokes questions and answers in the artist’s mind, creating multiple effects to choose from. Akil’s work brings time and space together through medium and concept, putting all his tools together to tackle the immensity of the universe.

Layering colours, light, and darkness becomes therapeutic and even performative. The artist loses control, by reshaping molecules of pigment and mixing them on the surface. The result illustrates faith, energy, and emotion, touching upon the duality of existence, life and death.

The paintings hold the fabric of the universe, atoms, photons, and microcosmos made of living things. They expand with the universe and breathe with every heartbeat.

Press release courtesy Ayyam Gallery