Sadik Kwaish Alfraji tackles exile and the struggles of human existence with a tinge of playfulness.
Iraqi artist Sadik Kwaish Alfraji has been living in exile in the Netherlands for many years. The dark, melancholy figures in his paintings speak about loss, exile, fragmentation, displacement and the struggles of human existence. His latest exhibition in Dubai, “Driven by Storms (Ali’s Boat)” also addresses these themes, but with a tinge of playfulness. The artworks have a childlike quality, because they are inspired by a drawing made by his nephew, Ali, when he was 10 years old.
The show, curated by Nat Muller, features large scale paintings, charcoal drawings, sketches from the artist’s diary and stop-motion video animation works. The artworks are filled with references to childhood such as Ali’s childish drawing of a boat; butterflies created with a stamp Alfraji found in his children’s toy box; a landscape of Baghdad copied from a child’s drawing; and the recurring motif of snakes and ladders from the children’s board game to symbolise the ups and downs in life.
