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Bahraini artist Mona Alaradi aims to spread positive vibes with her first artistic solo showcase and hopes everyone’s New Year will be golden.
Her ‘Golden Leaf’ exhibition, which opened to art lovers on December 5 on the ground floor of Harbour Gate within Bahrain Financial Harbour, features 31 vibrant paintings themed around Austrian painter Gustav Klimt, minimalism, abstract, calligraphy, colourful women and Bahraini culture.
“During the lockdown, I was inspired by Klimt’s art,” said the 39-year-old self-taught artist and founder of Maharat Art & Crafts online platform.
“He is known for his artistic symbolism, his golden paintings and the use of gold leaf in his works.”
The gold leaf is gold that has been hammered into fine sheets. It is a way to make artistic creations shimmer and shine. The glistening gold accents can add an ethereal touch to any work of art and that is what Mona’s exhibit is themed upon.
“I created most of my artworks with repetitive golden patterns resembling healing and wisdom in difficult times,” she added. “I feel very blessed to be sharing my paintings with everyone.”
Most of her artworks, created between March last year and this September, were completed using watercolours, gouache, ink, mixed media, gold leaves and metallic effects.”
There are six artworks motivated by Klimt called The Golden Tree, Motherhood, Going Home, Nazik and Kate. Mona has six minimalistic paintings featuring line art with ink. She has five abstract pieces including a painting called Toxic Silence that aims to shed light on mental health. It’s inspired by German-American poet, novelist and short story writer Henry Charles Bukowski.
Her seven calligraphy-themed paintings feature
poetry, art and geometric shapes.
She has four artworks featuring women in colourful patterns and three paintings based on Bahrain’s culture inspired by local artists and early 90s TV shows.
The event will end on January 6.
Harbour Gate is open daily and entry to the exhibition is free. All Covid-19 precautionary measures are implemented for the safety of visitors.
Her group art collaborations include the Bahrain Annual Fine Art Exhibition in 2019, the Art for Palestine this year as well as the Elimination of Violence Against Women showcase.
Mona became a full-time artist and writer before the pandemic, when she resigned from a 14-year career in the financial sector.
She is also working on publishing a book and focusing on more golden themed artwork to be exhibited in the New Year.
For details, follow @mona_artworks on Instagram.
