Each of Kristel Bechara’s artworks has a has a story and speaks a thousand words. The paintings in this collection were made available in alternative proportionate sizes.
Shop her artwork collection here.
The Tuscan Stairway
Giclee on Canvas 60x80cm
Merchant trader Bechara El Khoury’s Tuscan style palace in Beirut has been abandoned since the civil war. It was once a statement representative of Beirut’s beauty and opulence made of crafted limestone, travertine and marble. It is now forgotten and left at the mercy of the looters, weather and time. Sadly, it is now being used as makeshift joinery workshop!
A collaboration project with brilliant photographer Fadi Badran, THE TUSCAN STAIRWAY is aimed at bringing back to life the remarkable but forgotten and war-torn aspects of Beirut’s architectural legacy, through the application of dynamic colourful twists. The aspiration is to raise awareness of the current decaying status of a disappearing heritage and to incite local councils to take urgent action.
“Pity the nation that raises not its voice, save when it walks in a funeral, boasts not except among its ruins” –Gibran Khalil Gibran.
The Glamorous Pointe Shoes
Giclee on Canvas 150x100cm
Pointe is the epitome of elegant and beautiful. These are the real high heels.
Without dance what’s the pointe?
“we dance for laughter,
we dance for tears,
we dance for madness,
we dance for fears,
we dance for hopes,
we dance for screams,
we are the dancers,
we create the dreams”-
Albert Einstein.
Knitted Victorian Garden
Giclee on Canvas 150x100cm
The end of the Victorian era brought change to the art of crocheting. Crocheted lace became even more elaborate in texture and stitching. Preference for white or pale-coloured threads increased and strong Victorian colours disappeared after World War I, when far fewer crochet patterns were published. After a small decline in popularity, the art of crocheting picked up pace in the early 21st century with a change in patterns and use of bright colours. Since then, interest in crochets has seen a revival, and is making great strides in design with the improvement in the quality and varieties of yarn.
It was a common practice for groups of women to crochet clothing and other garments to pass the trade from one generation to the next.
Growing up in an environment of women who crocheted and others who adorn their living spaces with the trimming, inspired the artist to express this type of art form through her own perspective and drawn out of warm memories.
Peonies
Giclee on Canvas 100x120cm
This oeuvre is from a series of paintings of Peonies. The initial aesthetics of peonies in still life compelled the artist to draw them in a ferociously dynamic colourful twist.
Peonies, the “king of flowers” has roots in ancient western and in eastern mythologies. In the East, they are native to China and symbolise nobility, honour, and wealth.
In the West, they are tied to Paeonia the beautiful nymph who seduced Apollo only to be then transformed into a red peony by Aphrodite, in anger. They symbolize bashfulness and romance.
Gauntlet
Giclee on Canvas 150x100cm
A representation of the medieval leather gloves, this armament tool was used for punching, slapping, or setting challenges. In the old days when knights were warriors, a gauntlet would be thrown on the floor as a challenge to whoever picked it up.
Today they are used as fashion accessories, workers safety tools and most recently by the modern day conquerors, the Astronauts.
ASAH - As seen at homes
