Salim Mathkour

My artistic search originated from the culture of Maysan, in southern Iraq, where I grew up. Even after so many years, I can still breathe the smell of mud and the marshes of my native town. However, my style has been taking shape through the past three decades since the time when I left Baghdad in 1993 and over the years after, first Jordan and later in Qatar. My art bears the footprint of the pain caused by immigration. My work expresses the condition of an Iraqi exile, the human tragedy, and memories of my childhood. My roots also taught me also how to see and capture on the canvas the utmost beauty of life – the dazzle of a natural landscape or the innocence of a woman peacefully asleep with a book on her lap. Painting is a feat of the mind and soul. I feel through things and manifest them on the canvas, capturing their innermost essence. For this reason, my approach is contemplative. I meditate on the surface of the work and focus on achieving simplicity in lines and richness in color through the use of oil paint or play with the fluidity and finesse of watercolors. I am forever fascinated with the ductility and versatility that the medium affords and the many more hidden secrets it holds.