Alia Hussain Lootah's current, largely monochrome suspended forms devoid of human features evidence a move from a hyperreal to an almost surreal, pseudo- scientific style. 2019 marked a turning point...
Alia Hussain Lootah's current, largely monochrome suspended forms devoid of human features evidence a move from a hyperreal to an almost surreal, pseudo- scientific style. 2019 marked a turning point in Lootahs’ practice in which she began making minimalist gestures stripped of narrative content, which in 2022, ended in curvy biomorphic, bulbous subjects (Repetition 1, 2, etc.) centered on pastel yellow A5 paper. She filled the outlines in with wispy lines made by a fine ink pen, finding her artistic voice through precise, laborious work that goes through numerous iterations, each dictated by a sequential arrangement of lines. They make up a grid of intricate, numbered drawings (up until 100) that came out of a protracted inward-looking process over six years. This was the time after the Salama bint Hamdan Emerging Artists Fellowship (SEAF), in which Lootah kept practicing but stopped showing work. Taking part in SEAF meant that she was willing to consider art as a profession, though it has always been a natural part of her way of life.