Work in Progress: Diana Al-Hadid
The Syrian-American artist looks to the skies in new paintings showing at Frieze Los Angeles
The Syrian-American artist looks to the skies in new paintings showing at Frieze Los Angeles
My studio is ‘an extension of my mind’, says Diana Al-Hadid. It’s where she has developed her alchemical, additive approach to painting that fuses polymer gypsum, fibreglass, pigments and metal leaf. As she prepares for her solo show with Kasmin at Frieze Los Angeles, Al-Hadid discusses the new colours emerging in her latest work, taking inspiration from the Biblical paintings of Giovanni Battista Tiepolo and how to cast the root ball of a jasmine plant.
Livia Russell Can you talk about your new work for Frieze Los Angeles?
Diana Al-Hadid I’ve been doing a lot of sky studies in preparation for my commission for the sculpture terrace of Princeton University’s new museum, which opens in late 2025. Since 2020, I’ve been spending more time upstate, and nature and landscape have become a significant presence in my work. For Frieze Los Angeles, my body of work combines images I’ve taken of my property upstate, skies over Princeton and historical paintings that capture striking skies or ‘sky events’.
LR How does this work fit within your œuvre?
DA-H These works are made using a process I developed years ago in which I make a kind of ‘backwards’ cast of a painting. This results in the work appearing fragile or deteriorated. However, the embedded image is an additive process made of lots of layers of colour and material. I think it is best described as a blend of fresco and tapestry.
LR Are there new sources of inspiration in your current work?
DA-H One of the historical paintings I’ve referenced is The Miracle of the House of Loreto [1743] by Tiepolo, which is in the Getty Center’s collection. It depicts the Virgin Mary’s house being miraculously transported through the sky by angels from Nazareth to Loreto, Italy. My husband, who’s an architect, was transfixed by this story when we were in Italy together. When I was thinking about a work for Frieze, I wanted to make something that felt both familiar to LA and personal, especially as we’ve been considering future collaborations.
For Frieze, I wanted to make something that felt both familiar to LA and personal.
Another work in this series draws from a depiction of Zenobia, the rebellious queen of Palmyra (present-day Syria), painted by the British artist Herbert Gustave Schmalz in the early 20th century. In the painting, she gazes at what I believe is the moon on the horizon. Syria comes up again in the booth in my work Warda. It’s the second edition of a bronze sculpture of a jasmine plant – the national flower of Syria – created by dipping the plant’s sponge-like root ball in wax, which burns out in a direct bronze pour. I also cast and weld its wild, circular stems. This edition features a roughly hewn outline of my native country as its base.
LR How do you see your practice developing?
DA-H I’m still practising my practice, so I don’t know exactly how it will develop. But I try to keep pursuing things that light up my brain – whether that’s a story, a myth or a material process. With my panels, I’m constantly refining my process. Since 2020, spending more time in nature has had a major effect on my perception of colour. My eyes have been saturated with greens, blues and purples – I see that reflected in my work.
LR What does time in the studio mean to you?
DA-H Time in the studio is precious. It’s the most consistent place I know, more than any home, and the place I feel most connected to myself. I’ve noticed that the closer I am in proximity to the space, the faster new ideas drop on my head. When I’m away for too long, I feel it in my body.
I keep pursuing things that light up my brain – a story, a myth or a process.
During 2020, when we moved upstate, it was the longest I had ever been away from my studio, and it took a real toll on my mental health. That experience led us to start building a new studio there. Now, I have a quiet space in nature as well as the studio I’ve had in Brooklyn for over 17 years. My studio is truly an extension of my mind – I need access to it wherever I’m spending a good amount of time. Otherwise, I quite literally feel like I’m losing my mind.
Further Information
Frieze Los Angeles, 20 – 23 February 2025, Santa Monica Airport.
Frieze is proud to support the LA Arts Community Fire Fund, led by the J. Paul Getty Trust. In addition to Frieze’s contribution, 10% of the value of all newly purchased tickets is also being donated to the fund.
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Main Image: Diana Al-Hadid’s studio. Courtesy: the artist and Kasmin, New York. Photo: Charlie Rubin
