Saloua Sarhiri

Saloua travels through her paintings, where colors and shapes feed her imagination. She’s impassioned by the suppleness of this visual form of communication, by the textured and colored surfaces, by her works, some more expressive than others. Her brushes dance with the music, and in the atmosphere surrounding.

Music guides her movements and her imagination dictates the colors. She enjoys playing with the contrast between matte and brilliant, as well as with the transparency of colors.

Saloua’s works are made with acrylic, oil, varnish and sometimes enhancing pigments. Joy and beauty inhabit her paintings in all seasons. She welcomes everyone to her happy world.

What is your background and how did you start your journey in the art world?

“After graduating as a computer engineer, I worked for an international company, picking up my paintbrush a few years later after the birth of my first daughter. After the birth of my second daughter, this desire to paint became more pronounced thanks to participating in exhibitions.

I start my painting day with a moment of calm concentration which can sometimes last a few hours. When the desire settles, I can start. I then listen to some music, sometimes very quiet and at other times rhythmic—the difference is strongly visible in my paintings.

I like to play with my colors—their transparency, their opacity, and the shine often comes to crown the canvas. In Europe, I have exhibited in Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Monaco. Most recently, I exhibited my work in New York.”

What inspires you?

“I’m inspired mainly by moments in everyday life. Often the smallest details inspire me: a ray of sun, a star in the sky, a tree during a walk, and sometimes music.”

What themes do you pursue? Is there an underlying message in your work?

“The only message my works convey is serenity, transparency, and tranquility. When people stop in front of my paintings and dive into my universe, they discover depth.”

How would you describe your work?

“My work is the reflection of a moment of deep tranquility. When I’m in front of a blank canvas in a dreamy state of mind, the touch of the linen transports me and I travel through my imagination. Then comes the pigment, the painting and the music, and the play of colors begins—transparency, opacity, light, thickness, texture, and more as the golden touch crowns my work for the final finish. My rectangle signature in the bottom right is often part of the canvas.”

Which artists influence you most?

“I love the art of Pierre Soulages and the work of Jackson Pollock. It’s difficult for me to find the similarity to their works. When I look at each of my works, I plunge back into the same moment of creation, and during the creation I’m alone, in front of my blank canvas. Then the dance of the brushes begins without control or schema.”

 What is your creative process like?

“I take a journey through my canvases, and the colors and shapes nourish my imagination. Passionate about the suppleness of this visual form of communication, textured and colorful surfaces, my brushes are lulled by the music I’m listen to and the atmosphere surrounding me in the studio.”

What is an artist’s role in society and how do you see that evolving?

“With a lot of kindness, the artist often brings a future vision. Sometimes, there can be a message for the society in the work of some artists, and it’s important for them to display and transmit it. The artist is happy when the audience feel their hearts touched by the work.”

Have you had any noteworthy exhibitions you’d like to share?

“I’ve had the joy of exhibiting my work in Monaco, Knokke, Brussels, Kortrijk, Waterloo, Liège, Paris, Luxembourg, and Stockholm.”

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Website: www.salouasarhiri.com

Instagram: @salouasarhiri

Other: LinkedIn

Saloua’s art, filled with poetic warmth and vitality

It was exactly what I needed on that tired, listless, lethargic day.

Deep inside I was crying out for a paean of poetic warmth and vitality. Put simply, I wanted to feel that my life had a deeper meaning and sense the beating pulse of a life lived to the full.

At the time, the life that surrounded me was largely worn out, exhausted and humdrum. My soul wept at the endless drudgery of it all.

I had also grown tired of my work as an art critic. As I trudged around from one gallery and exhibition to the next, I was growing increasingly disappointed. I was longing to see a trace of curiosity, joy or vitality. Instead, I encountered pictures that had already lost any spark of life (if they had ever had one in the first place).

This might seem a long introduction, but it is necessary to describe what I felt when I encountered Saloua’s visual worlds filled with the pure joy of existence.

In truth, it had been years since I last stood in front of a work of art that so powerfully moved my innermost soul.

Yes, I would say that this art had a power and a soulfulness to it that carved a deep furrow straight into the most important part of me; the place inside me where my love and my lifeblood and the most essential aspects of me dwell.

So there I stood; happy and almost ecstatic at being granted an insight into an artist’s secret, holy source of energy.

Happy to be able to see works by an artist who digs deep inside themselves and manages to create works of art that are filled with exactly what every art lover is seeking but so rarely finds.

The name of the artist whose works managed to enchant me so completely is Saloua.

Most of all, I am transfixed by a picture in a huge format which shouts out loud and bubbles over with vitality.

I think that a painting like this can very well stand comparison with works by Jackson Pollock.

Mark me well; what Saloua is doing and displaying is absolutely not illustration attempting to imitate art; these works are pictures in which the brush dances wildly around the canvas, where freedom is total. Such paintings can only be created by someone who is not and has never allowed themselves to be disciplined by rules or enslaving conventions.

I also see other works by Saloua that are more reminiscent of – resemble – rocks or clenched fists, powerful blocks with an intrinsic energy.

But what I find attractive about these works is not their external power, but the “scribbles” that one can make out. In them I see a secret language, a message that I am keen to interpret although I rarely succeed in doing so.

In winding letters and symbols, Saloua writes her messages to me – the viewer – and those of us who receive these signs from the artist are astounded, delighted or read our own longing into the pictures.

Finally, I would interpret Saloua’s art as being like the rock carvings of the distant past.

Messages from Saloua to me and to all those who experience the joy of encountering her letters of love.

Thank you, Saloua!

Stig Åke Stålnacke

Art Critic – member AICA

(International Art Critic Association)