World Fine Art Professionals and their Key-Pieces, 314 - Ehab Omaro
World Fine Art Professionals and their Key-Pieces, 314 - Ehab Omaro
Ehab Omaro makes abstract paintings with many layers. He is inspired by the artists of De Stijl, in particular Piet Mondrian and Theo van Doesburg. Ehab Omaro is originally from Syria, but now lives in Rijswijk where he works full-time as a painter.
On a sunny Wednesday afternoon, I visit Ehab in his apartment in the music district. I soon notice that Ehab is thoroughly motivated to succeed as an artist in his new country. Behind me hangs one of his paintings where you can see a city, but just as well a rhythmic color pattern.
Deep emotions and hidden feelings
Ehab Omaro wants to capture deep emotions and hidden feelings in his work, he says. “Each of us has a story. Most of us miss the way to express it. My art tries to tell that story. It can work as a therapy. ” When Ehab is working on a work of art, he tries to make a connection with the possible collector of his work.
He has a different relationship with the collectors than most artists, he says. “I help my collectors to celebrate a milestone or a moment in their lives with my art. I notice that collectors have a strong bond with my work.” They are also special people who buy his work: not the average man / woman in the street. "They are mainly more emotional than average."
Key work
Does he have a key work, a work that caused a change in his oeuvre or a work that is engraved in his brain? He has. He even has two. The first is ‘Inferno’. Hell. “It started when I decided to put three movements on the canvas. I tried to capture deep emotions, how we as humans can feel this, especially because it often goes unspoken. I have tried to depict the enormous impact on people on the canvas.”
The second is another series: ‘A Tour in the City’. “It is inspired by my own country Syria and the countries I have visited in my life. Among others Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Greece, Lebanon, Spain, France, the Netherlands and Germany. An imaginary city that I have in mind. It is an abstract, undefined city.”
5 years old
How long has Ehab been an artist? “Since I was 5 years old. I got a lot of support from my mother, now I get that from my wife. Women, they do all the work!” As a child he participated in drawing and painting competitions, locally and worldwide. Sometimes he also won. He shows a large gold-colored medal. After high school he naturally went to the Art Academy in Damascus.
He was 18 then. "I studied visual arts and specialized in interior design." After graduating, he traveled to Saudi Arabia in 2011 and had a commercial career as an interior designer there for a few years. In 2015 he went to the Netherlands. At first he continued his commercial career with a Dutch company, Rituals Cosmetics.
Independent artist
In all those years he had not been to Syria, which just then collapsed in disorder with a lot of violence. “I was not in Syria for over 11 years. My dream to be an independent artist came back to life in The Hague.” This was mainly because he felt himself pressed into a pattern in the 9 to 5 job where he could only use his creativity to a limited extent. “I felt like a robot. At the same time, I gained enough confidence to quit my commercial career and start selling my art professionally. I decided: I will be a full-time artist!”
And did it work? "It went well. More than 30 collectors celebrate their best moment with my art. Some buy more than one work. I try to make connections, more than selling a work of art, I share an experience. My art appears to work as a therapy. When I get in touch with a potential buyer, my first question is always, ‘what do you feel when you look at it?’ I want to know why he / she is connected to my artwork. This is how the work gets its value. There are also collectors who buy it to dispel their depression. That is also valid for me.”
Captain Ahab
Finally, is his first name related to Ahab, Captain Ahab from Herman Melville's famous book Moby Dick? Ehab: "No, my name is Ehab, that is a very common name in Syria, there is no connection with Captain Ahab."
Images
1) The abandoned city 82x142cm, 2) Day on the roof, 100x100cm, 3) Day on the roof collection, , 4) Day on the roof 2.0., 100x100cm, 5) Back to my hometown, 30x40cm, 6) Gold prize 1995-Kanagawa children art competition-Japan, 7) Indisposition (let it burn), 80x120cm, 8) Infernó 2.0., 50x50cm, 9) Inside the built-up area 2.0., 80x80cm, 10) Inside the built-up area, 80x80cm
