Curatorial Statement:

Having always believed that nature has music for those who are willing to lend an ear and as an introvert, Lana Khayat has found herself more fluent with nature rather than mankind. This features in her art as a free flowing journey of the conversations she had with the wilderness and trees. During these dialogues with nature, the artist realized that some learnings are too deep and personal to be put into words and this inspired the choice to use the canvas as her medium of expression. Depicting a mystical manifestation of these dialogues with nature, each tone and stroke overflows with meaning beyond human script or language.

“Things exist in their essence even before they are materially realised and named.”
– “Immortality” by Milan Kundera

Conversation With The Wilderness’ bridges what is natural and what is constructed. The trees being the “natural” and the conversations with them depict the “constructed”. Each stroke in her art is saturated with meaning and symbolism. Some compact strokes and monotones are indicative of moments when nature refused to enlighten her and was rough beyond understanding. Whereas longer and colorful strokes reflect the days when the conversations with nature would flow smooth as a stream and there was nothing but gratitude and love. The abstractness of her art is synonymous to the unpredictability of her encounters with nature. The artist dreams to inspire people to discover the depths of nature where nothing is mundane and everything has a meaning.
“Come forth into the light of things/ Let Nature be your teacher.”
– ‘The Tables Turned’

About the Artist

Born and brought up in Beirut, Lebanon, Lana Khayat comes from a family of Artists. She is an undergraduate in Design from the American University of Beirut, and a Masters in Fine Arts from the School of Visual Arts, New York where she also worked at the Guggenheim Museum.

About XVA Gallery

XVA Gallery is one of the leading galleries in the Middle East that specializes in contemporary art from the Arab world, Iran, and the Subcontinent. Exhibitions focus on works by the region’s foremost artists as well as those emerging onto the scene. The gallery’s artists express their different cultural identities and perspectives while challenging the viewer to drop prejudices and borders. XVA Gallery and XVA Art Hotel are located in Dubai’s heritage district, now called Al Fahidi Historical Neighborhood. XVA founded and organized the Bastakiya Art Fair from 2007- 2010 as part of its commitment to raising the profile of contemporary art practice in Dubai.