Dalal Al Obaidi
Against All Currents, 2025
Oil on canvas
160 x 120 x 3 cm
Copyright The Artist
This painting approaches self-portraiture through absence and atmosphere rather than depiction. Set within a post-oil, 1960s-inspired Kuwaiti living room, the space becomes a site where memory, lineage, and personal decision...
This painting approaches self-portraiture through absence and atmosphere rather than depiction. Set within a post-oil, 1960s-inspired Kuwaiti living room, the space becomes a site where memory, lineage, and personal decision quietly intersect.
The central boom (traditional dhow) anchors the room as a symbol of inheritance and continuity, while the lush domestic interior situates it within a modern present. A telephone off the hook rests on the floor, suggesting a moment of interruption, choice, or departure. Symbolizing the act of answering a call, leaving home, or the uncertain possibility of return. Beyond the window, two ghostly figures hover between presence and disappearance, evoking movement, separation, and the uncertainty of what lies outside of the domestic sphere. Rather than offering resolution, the painting suspends identity, allowing it to be continually reshaped through memory, space, and unspoken decisions.
The central boom (traditional dhow) anchors the room as a symbol of inheritance and continuity, while the lush domestic interior situates it within a modern present. A telephone off the hook rests on the floor, suggesting a moment of interruption, choice, or departure. Symbolizing the act of answering a call, leaving home, or the uncertain possibility of return. Beyond the window, two ghostly figures hover between presence and disappearance, evoking movement, separation, and the uncertainty of what lies outside of the domestic sphere. Rather than offering resolution, the painting suspends identity, allowing it to be continually reshaped through memory, space, and unspoken decisions.
