Nissa Raad

Nissa Raad (Fakhrelnissa Raad) is a Jordanian artist who was born in Amman in 1981. She graduated from Brown University in 2002 with a BA in history before receiving an MSc in urban development and design from UCL, London, in 2004. She is half Swedish on her mother's side and has Turkish roots - an eclectic background which has influenced her style of art. Mixed media, vibrant colors, rich texture and interesting contrasts are ubiquitous in Nissa's whimsical work which is inspired by both the urban and the natural - particularly Middle Eastern/Mediterranean cities and seaside towns.

Colorful, soulful subjects dominate her work and she has recently ventured more into minimalist, organic abstracts. 

Nissa has had several sold-out solo exhibitions in Amman and in Istanbul, and has participated in numerous group exhibitions both locally and internationally as well as contemporary art fairs in Dubai, Istanbul, Beirut, Paris, New York and Madrid. 

Based in Amman, she is a mom of 2 teenage sons and a daughter. The art of her late grandmother, the Turkish artist Fahrelnissa Zeid, has always inspired her own work.

 

 

I was drawn to art at a very early age and was greatly inspired by my late grandmother, the artist Fahrelnissa Zeid. As a child, I was mesmerized by her paintings, which covered every visible surface- walls, ceilings and even floors. The dazzling kaleidoscope of colors and forms had a lasting effect on me and my approach to art throughout my life, as I feel I have inherited her love of color, rich texture and bold expressive lines. Whimsical expressiveness characterizes my work and I’m constantly seeking inspiration from both urban and natural environments. I have a weakness for symbolism and soulful subjects and an affinity for texture and combining textures in contrasting ways. A painting needs to be eye-catching and dramatic- not something that risks fading into the background. It needs to provoke, not decorate.

 

The artistic process is much more important to me than the actual product - the creation of the piece and how much of yourself is poured into the work and how much you receive in return as an artist is far more significant than the final physical outcome. The painting guides me and tells me what it wants in a visual conversation where I often approach the blank canvas with no predetermined plan and paint impulsively, guided by an inner force, emotion or mood. I surrender to spontaneity and create layers of chaos through a series of random impulsive actions, after which I re-examine what has emerged on the canvas. I find myself searching for what is of value and what is dispensable. This pleasantly challenging process is repeated several times, layer after layer of chaos followed by “sanity”, until the work tells me that it is complete and I feel no more visual anxiety. 

 

What I love most about creating art is the “dance” between the artist and the piece. It’s a lesson in compromise and patience. You reach a certain point in the process where you find that you are no longer in charge, because you’ve created something that has come alive, and that something is now directing you – and so you surrender to the authority of your work."