Kinda Hibrawi And Her Modern Abstract Arabic Art

Online, January 5, 2011 (Newswire.com) - Recently, I had the pleasure to sit and talk to Syrian American artist, Kinda Hibrawi. A meeting I've wanted to do ever since I laid eyes on her beautiful work almost three years ago. She is most known for her colorful, modern take on Arabic calligraphy, an art form that has been in the Arab and Islamic culture for centuries.

Arabic is an incredibly poetic and expressive language. Hibrawi's ability to translate the rich meanings of the script though her contemporary calligraphy surrounded by bright and vivid paint is exquisite. It's an eye-catching representation of east meets west.

In anticipation of her upcoming 2011 collection, Hibrawi let's us in on her early years as an artist, her most difficult challenges, and what we can expect from her next.

Kinda Hibrawi: I have always loved the arts, and just being creative. I've been painting ever since I was a kid growing up in Saudi Arabia. But I started taking it seriously when I was going through a really rough time in my life. It was in 2004. A close friend of mine had been killed in a car accident. I got let go from my job and I needed a therapeutic outlet, so I turned to painting. A friend then said to me why don't you start selling these in galleries and I thought there is no way, who is going to take me seriously? It so happened that I ran into someone at my gym whose husband had a gallery and I pretty much begged her to get me in to see him. Hoping he would just take a look at my work and he did, and liked it. That was really my main break. But before that, I was hustling.

NA: What was the hardest thing you experienced when you decided you wanted to make art as your career?

KH: That no one took me seriously. People would ask me sometimes what do you do? No really, what do you do for work? Even some of my friends at the time would say "come on, you're not an artist; you just do it on the side, as a hobby." But in my head, it was really important in order for this thing to work, to take it seriously. To truly believe in mind that this was a career path, not just a side hobby. I felt really strongly that if this was going to work, I had to think in big terms.

NA:What's next?

KH: I'm continuing with the Arabesque shirts and to possibly design scarves and handbags, in collaboration with handbag designer Dareen Hakim. And I'm just excited to work on my 2011 collection on abstract landscapes, which is inspired by my recent trip to Aleppo, Syria where I'm from. When I was in Halab (Aleppo in Arabic) over the summer, I did a lot more sightseeing and took a bunch of photographs, which is the inspiration behind my 2011 collection. Going to the Saint Simeon Citadel up there, it was incredible to see the way the light hit the buildings. The way the sunlight hits the architecture over there is so beautiful and incredible. So a lot of the collection has to do with light and landscapes. I'm looking forward to being still, quiet and just painting.