trees of life Hala Nadar 126 W hen she was a student of business and technology in art and design at the Chelsea College of art in london in the late 1980s, Hala Nadar rented a workspace in Princes Gate in which she hung pictures and postcards of Ismail Fattah’s works “for inspiration”. The “simplicity, dynamism and strong brushstrokes” of the pioneering Iraqi Modern Master’s paintings and sculptures appealed to her and heavily influenced a body of work during her academic years. “Ismail’s themes may be controversial by Middle Eastern standards,” says Nadar, “but it was always clear what one was looking at.” The controversy does not transpire in Nadar’s work, rather, its clarity is key: the musical instruments, houses, flowers, fruit, birds, horses, trees and landscapes that have characterised her work for over 15 years are apparent, but allegorical too in their references to family ties and life’s natural cycles – much in the same way that Fattah’s unambiguous figures have rendered the human condition. lush forests filled with trees consume Hala Nadar’s oeuvre Myrna Ayad meets the artist, who applies geometry and science to nature. 127 Opening spread: (Detail) Lemon Dreams 2009. Oil on canvas. 80 x 120 cm. This page: Untitled 2012. Oil on canvas. 145 x 120 cm. Facing page: Untitled. 2011. Oil on canvas. 120 x 145 cm. CulTIvaTING rooTs Though born in Beirut, Nadar, her two elder sisters, umaima and Maryam and their parents settled in dubai in the early 1960s. The roots of artistic appreciation, she says, stem from her mother “who would have been an artist had she had the opportunity”. In fact, due to their parents’ encouragement, the three sisters have become artists in their own right. Nadar fol- lowed her siblings to boarding school in the uK and joined the Chelsea College of art and later completed a Ba in Printed Textiles from Middlesex Polytechnic in 1991. Her interest in printed textiles was totally unrelated to the sphere of fashion and rather focused on the art of patterning and its detailed process. “It was a very fine art-based course with no commercial intent and we were pushed to create one-off works of art that were on fabric,” recalls Nadar, who tremendously enjoyed the practice of observational drawing, designing a pattern on paper, mixing dyes and transferring the image onto a silkscreen. Precision is at the core of this procedure, as is the adherence to a chronology of steps. These factors, in addition to the actual aesthetic, have continued to form the basis of Nadar’s subsequent artwork. Hers is a discipli- nary approach and regiment, echoed in her studiousness and graduation with distinction and first class honours from both academic in- stitutions. “I’m good at making patterns work,” she admits. Nadar considered selling her prints of painted textiles at international fashion and design fairs – and she did – but the demands of the fashion world clashed with her disinterest in moneymaking ‘cyclical’ art. “My work wasn’t com- mercial enough,” she explains. “design has to function in a repetitive fashion and everything I was producing was one-off; I didn’t want to force myself into this repetition.” until this point, Nadar had not perceived herself as a Contempo- rary artist per se , but a turning point happened in 1992 when she took part in the Three Nadar paintings exhibition alongside her sisters at lon- don’s Foreign Press association, which led to her participation in group shows in the British capi- tal and New York. during this time, Nadar’s work with oils – her preferred medium – saw her paint horses, birds and flowers in a naïve style that often included indecipherable poetry. she had discovered tribal art during her studies at the Chelsea College of art and had become particu- larly inspired by that which came from Central africa. as is the case with Fattah’s work, Nadar 128 ProFIlE appreciated the “directness, simplicity and modernity” of tribal art, which has come to profoundly affect her oeuvre she did not know it then, but the bulk of the oil on canvas pieces that Nadar created in her Princes Gate studio were to be exhibited at dubai’s oldest gallery, Green art, led by the “visionary, risk-taking, forward-thinking” Mayla atassi a few years later, in 1995. It was Nadar’s first solo and the gallery’s second show, which followed Green art’s inaugural group exhibition of works by arab Masters includ- ing Fattah, Fateh Moudarres and dia al-azzawi. Nadar bought her first Fattah piece at the gallery’s debut show, a work on paper of his iconic cockerel, “paid for in in- stalments” and which is today among many pieces of the same genre in her and This page: (Detail) Day Dreams. 2007. Oil on canvas. 120 x 150 cm. Facing page: Musical Trees. 2008. Oil on canvas. 60 x 90 cm. 129 ProFIlE “We are surrounded by patterns. The vista from an airplane window, earth itself, the structure of DNA... it’s fascinating.” her husband’s collection. “I met all these incredible artists through Green art and had the privilege of interacting with them,” recalls Nadar, who returned “home” to dubai permanently in 1995 after almost two decades in the uK. “I’ve never regretted com- ing back and I’ve never been happier,” she adds. “It’s a privilege to live in this country and to have so many opportunities on so many levels.” Her return to dubai signalled a focus on her painting in addition to working at Green art, helping to put on exhibitions, design catalogues and scout new artists. Marriage and mother- hood followed, pausing her artistic production and it is in the last five years that a “resurrection” has materialised. a NaTural ordEr “Had I not been an artist, I would have been a landscape architect,” confesses Nadar. Not sur- prising as she has managed to weave the latter practice into her art: the ‘architectural’ processes 130 ProFIlE of planning, designing and constructing form the crux of her method. Her technique also abides by geometric outlines and graphical formulas, imbuing her paintings with a highly structured and ordered feel. “The configuration comes from the textile training that I’ve done,” adds Nadar. Yet, in spite of this organised arrangement, her paintings evoke a simplicity and innocence that is reminiscent of the naïve works of French painter Henri rousseau and Croatian artist Ivan rabuzin. she reveals a paper featuring 14 linear graphs given to her by an art tutor in the late 1980s, the shapes of which she has been applying to her paintings ever since. “The number of variations that can be achieved from the same graph is incredible, it’s infinite,” she explains. “Each has a mathematical perfection.” When one peers a little closer behind the ornate leaves attached to the arterial branches of an untitled work from 2012, and within the backdrop of Musical Instruments from 2008, a diagram appears. It becomes clear that she applies shapes to shapes, fitting and corresponding ele- ments from nature into forms. Nadar takes this analogous method further – in line with assembling elements within these linear graphs, she has also classified the elements themselves as patterns. The result is a physical layer within a metaphoric one. “We are sur- rounded by patterns,” she explains. “The vista from an airplane window, earth itself, the structure of dNa, the cycle of leaves falling from trees, becoming compost and regenerating energy – it’s fascinating.” It was only a matter of time before Nadar chose to focus on trees and she admits that “the interest isn’t new, it has just blossomed”. an avid pho- tographer and nature enthusiast, she has taken thousands of pictures of trees from all over the world and designed her home’s garden herself, which she overlooks from her pristine studio. “The tree itself is organic and is a symbol of strength,” she adds. “Not only does it support itself, but a whole existence along with it and experiences cycles through seasons – again, another pattern.” “My head is buried in trees. I do believe I’m in a forest of my own and I will be for a long while too.” 131 ProFIlE This page: Jug Mug & Music II. 2005. Oil on canvas. 15 x 28 cm. Facing page: (Detail) Red Apple Tree . 2009. Oil on canvas. 25 x 30 cm. All images courtesy the artist. THE FaMIlY TrEE as Nadar describes trees, she ultimately personi- fies them. This narrative presents itself through an untitled piece from 2011, which is immediately suggestive of a morose, gloomy mood. It isn’t too long before one can decipher that the theme of death is prevalent here, as are familial relations. Nadar painted this soon after her father’s pass- ing and has rendered him as a black, barren tree with outstretched branches, enclosed in a tomb- like structure. The sky and earth around him are shaded in violet hues, evocative of an other- worldly resting place, while the four trees under- neath – herself, sisters and mother – huddle in the foreground. “some works do have emotional links and there are many that I relate to my fam- ily and our relationships,” explains Nadar. The palette of other pieces insinuates happier moods, such as Lemon Dreams and Red Apple Tree , both from 2009, though all works share a time- consuming and meditative experience. In an oeuvre that encompasses science, mathematics and nature, Nadar’s artistic disposition is simple: “This is all about life.” The 18 pieces that are set for exhibition in october at artspace dubai – her first solo since 1995 – have all been created over the last five years. It will be difficult to part with them, she sighs, however the theme of trees is not something she will leave behind anytime soon. “My head is buried in trees,” smiles Nadar. “I do believe I’m in a forest of my own and I will be for a long while too.” Hala Nadar’s solo show at Artspace Dubai runs from 3–23 October. For more informa- tion visit www.artspace-dubai.com