Miray Wassouf

I am a Syrian artist. I studied fine arts at the University of Latakia.

I have been interested in the details of everyday observations of human relationships with the environment and with each other since my studies at the University of the Arts; what could be described as the trivial and marginal details of my own relationship with my surroundings as well.

Upon working on several studies and delving in personal projects, my research since my graduation in 2016 led me to my current project. I see the evolution of my work as a transition to a documented reality that is akin to a free-flowing collage of my imagination, observations and experiences.

Growing up in a Christian environment as a child, my imagination and visual memory were undoubtedly influenced by many religious works, iconography and religious stories. Although I rejected religion later in my youth, the impact of these stories remained with me. In many of my works, I rework and depict contemporary protections of these stories.

Many of my works are re-imaginings of medieval and Renaissance religious artworks.

I am fascinated by attempts to dramatize studies of human interaction with the idea of God in mundane projections, where the dynamics of the relationship seem harsher or more realistic, satirical and romanticised.

Our feelings change as the role of God and who He is to us changes, as we desperately seek to attract the affection, tenderness and love of the other, or apply cruelty or manipulation to them, and that's where I derive a visual imagery from recording what I call a personal diary.