MARILENE SAWAF

My first series of women goes back to 1981, after my recent move to New England. My inspiration was a luminous stained glass window that used to cover an entire wall of my grandmother’s home in Egypt.

In general I try to create an illusion, painting women in rich patterned dresses, who make you wonder who they are and what they are doing. The design, the position of the women's hands, the intriguing expressions of their faces, the mystery of their environment, create a surrealistic image. A product of my past culture, of my present taste for rich colors and enigmatic effects, my paintings of women are a mysterious reflection of my most subconscious dreams.

Marilene Sawaf was born in Egypt. She studied fine arts at the ABC School of Fine Arts in Paris and is a graduate of Interior Design & Architecture at the University of Saint Esprit in Lebanon. She is an active member of the New Hampshire Art Association and the Sharon Art Center. She has exhibited her work in the New England area and in many private collections around the world.