Untitled 1995

This untitled painting by Houria Niati is swimming with marks and colour, like a conversation overheard, or a glimpse into someone's visual diary. It's as if the artwork came into being through layers of intuition, each mark building upon the last. I can imagine Niati, with a paintbrush in hand, hovering over the surface, lost in a world of shapes and symbols. There are heads, maybe portraits or cultural references. And these floating orbs of colour – one green and blue, another, violet and pink, feel like emotional centres. The paint looks pretty thin, almost like watercolour, allowing the under-layers to peek through. There is such an urgency to the lines, like a thought racing to get out. Niati is in dialogue with a long tradition of artists who use painting as a form of expression. Each one inspires the other. And, just like that, painting becomes this place of endless possibilities where ambiguity reigns, and multiple meanings can coexist.