Co-sponsored with the Lebanese American University and LEBRECORD, the MIDDLE EAST & MIDDLE EASTERN AMERICAN CENTER at the City University in New York:
Narratives: Stories in Artform
This month (October 2007), I participated in Narratives: Stories in Artform, an exhibition at The Graduate Center, City University of New York. The show brought together four architects—Antoine Faddoul, Chadi Chamoun, Irina Verkhovskaya, and myself—each presenting work that reflected personal narratives and artistic explorations.
The pieces I exhibited came from a series born out of a deeply introspective period. They explored the small disruptions in life that force us to pause, moments when the rhythm of existence falters. These moments, though often unsettling, reveal something essential about who we are.
Among the works were paintings of seemingly ordinary objects—a bent paper clip, a broken candle, shattered pencils. Each was set against a flat, decontextualized background, as if to isolate the fracture and make it the focus. These objects, rendered in their imperfection, were less about what they represented and more about the feelings they evoked—the quiet discomfort of something no longer functioning as it should, the way even the smallest rupture in our routine can ripple through us.
Other pieces in the series ventured into broader, more profound themes of loss and devastation. Marwahin and Rachel reflected on the immense human cost of war, focusing on the maternal figure as a symbol of resilience and sorrow. These paintings were deeply personal yet universal in their exploration of grief. Marwahin captured the harrowing stillness of a mother cradling her children in death, while Rachel portrayed a moment of piercing anguish, her fingers clutching her face in despair.
In contrast, a purely abstract piece examined dissonance through vivid, colliding colors. Another work depicted a deconstructed bridge in muted blues and greys, dissolving into fragments and patches of color. This was less about the structure itself and more about what its collapse might evoke—a reflection on what lingers when something we rely on is no longer whole.
Taken together, the series aimed to explore the fragile interplay between structure and failure, wholeness and fragmentation, the personal and the collective. It is in those moments when something breaks—whether an object, a system, or a way of being—that we encounter ourselves most clearly.
For me, Narratives: Stories in Artform was not just about sharing art but about engaging in a quiet dialogue about the human condition. The exhibition reminded me of how art can distill complexity into something tangible, offering a way to reflect on what it means to experience, to endure, and to simply be.
