From the comfort of her lounge to a corner in her favorite café, she explores the settings that embrace her daily life. Along the way, she portrays an inner sanctuary visually and sentimentally.

Samara depicts the inside of her world with fine details incorporating daily objects and furnishing. She uses her usual signature of charming colors and stunning decorative motifs to illustrate familiar locations pinned on her daily map; a lively studio, a neat kitchen, a colorful bedroom, corners of several cafes and bars, and even a calm abandoned swimming pool.

Samara uses colors, motifs, and shapes to convey her sentiments showing her content, calmness, anxiety, or frustration. For example, the painting of a hospital room with a half-opened white curtain and a UV bag stand placed next to a bed bears an unsettling feeling. The scattered red tubes on the surface of the colorful floors reflect commotion as if there was an emergency scene. Another artwork depicting an empty bed in a hospital covered with white sheets and an air conditioning system on the wall reflects coldness and stuffiness despite the colorful motifs on the walls. Whereas a bedroom with peacock feathers painted on the background and several ladders around gives a feeling of lightness, weightlessness, and a connection with the skies. Some of her rooms are warm and full of love and colors, such as what appears as a studio, the various window sills, the bathrooms, and the various seating areas.

Continue reading

Image: Rana Samara, Untitled (43), 2021,
acrylic & spray paint on canvas, 161 x 201 cm