Art Works | REEM HASSAN

Art works since 2000

Transformations: An Artistic Experience Between Revelation and Obfuscation
Year : 2001
Event : Cairo International Biennale
In this body of work, my artistic practice delves into the relationship between image and memory, between clarity and distortion. Through the use of monoprinting techniques and visual manipulation, I seek to deconstruct the photographic image into layered moments of perception and visual engagement, where each stratum becomes an expression of temporal or emotional transformation.

The works adopt a triptych structure, creating a rhythmic visual cadence that immerses the viewer in a non-linear narrative experience. In some pieces, the image begins with clarity, gradually dissolving under the weight of black pigment—as if fading into memory, or perhaps being erased by the passage of time. In others, distortion acts as an intervening force, reshaping meaning and expanding the horizon of interpretation.

This engagement with the duality of presence and absence reflects my ongoing interest in the image’s power to shape both visual and emotional consciousness. Do we see reality as it is, or are we confronted with a mutable echo of the past—reshaped continually within our awareness? Here, the image ceases to be a mere representation, becoming instead a living entity that embodies the tension between remembering and forgetting, between revelation and concealment.

This visual inquiry is not solely a technical experiment, but rather a meditation on the identity of the image itself—on its capacity to transcend conventional perception and evolve into a dialogical space between viewer and artwork.

The Structure of Disintegration - 2004

Visual Representations of the Crisis of Contemporary Man

Modernity was once rooted in faith in reason and in the future. Yet, contemporary modernity has come to signify a fragmented, dissolved self—one that no longer holds to fixed references. It is a perpetual act of questioning dominant paradigms, whether by dismantling cultural and national constants in the East, or through the reconfiguration of Western models themselves. This leaves us in a landscape where cultural boundaries blur, but often at the cost of both individual and collective identity.

This collapse of references and standards is reflected in my work through the dominance of dark masses within the visual composition. These forms embody the weight of reality and its authority, while simultaneously symbolizing a deep sense of existential frustration that threatens the very coherence of the human self. In this context, absolute abstraction becomes the final refuge. Material forms dissolve, disintegrate, and lose their anchoring, leaving visual perception suspended in a state of conflict with an ever-shifting reality.

My practice is not a submission to contemporary norms, but rather a critique—a visual resistance. Through my work, I aim to interrogate these shifting dynamics, to reconsider the meaning of contemporaneity not as alignment with prevailing systems, but as an act of creative defiance. It is through this resistance that new forms of visual thought may emerge, pushing perception beyond imposed limitations and into new realms of aesthetic and conceptual experience.

"Transient Formations: Between Color and Erasure"
Location: Triangle Artist Workshop in Dumbo– New York, USA
Year: 2004

Conceptual Vision:
This body of work explores the tension between form and void, presence and absence. The compositions juxtapose vibrant color fields with dense black gestures—eruptive forms that interrupt the pictorial surface and function as visual voids or existential breaches. These organic dark blotches act as gravitational centers, collapsing form while inviting deeper introspection.

The work centers on the duality of "appearance and disappearance", staging a confrontation between color vibrancy and silent opacity, where black masses open metaphorical voids within the surface itself.

Technique and Style:
The works were executed using oil paints on large-scale canvases. Bright, flat color zones are met with thick, tactile black forms that evoke acts of burning, erasure, or corrosion. Some paintings were suspended in space, while others were displayed horizontally on the floor, encouraging viewers to shift their perspective between elevation and direct immersion.

Experimental Context:
This project was developed during my participation in the Triangle Artist Workshop in New York—a formative space that fostered cross-cultural dialogue and experimentation. The experience catalyzed a move toward more embodied, spatially aware practices in my artistic language.