Colour and poetics characterise the abstracted faces and rhythmic linearity of Rebwar Saed’s work. Rebwar was born in Sulaymaniyah, Kurdistan, where he is currently the dean of the College of Fine Arts. Before he started painting, he wrote poetry, and painting became a way to translate his verses into images.
Rebwar’s work is characterized by a graceful cubism in which curving black lines trace mysterious portraits. The artist is playful when it comes to perspective: his subjects simultaneously gaze into each other’s eyes and look directly at the viewer, evoking a sense of intimacy. In the Diary series, the figures melt into each other in tender embraces, both together and alone in pastel-coloured worlds. Rebwar renders these scenes with acrylic paint on canvas and lets the colours flow so smoothly into each other that it makes one think of the delicate gradients of water colours.
Rebwar also collaborates with his brother and artist, Hoshyar Rasheed. REBYAR, a series reflecting both their names, captures the effortless dialogue between Rebwar and Hoshyar, merging their artistic practices into a shared visual language. Through this collaboration, the brothers explore themes of memory, heritage, and transformation, weaving together their unique styles into layered mixed media compositions.