One of the three current solo offerings here is Iraqi-born artist Halim Alkarim’s “Hidden Love.” Alkarim splits his time between Denver and Dubai; his large scale multi-media imagery maintains its roots in photography while examining social and cultural issues, along with the state of the human condition in the war torn Middle East. A variety of painting techniques are incorporated with the use of 2 x 4 black and white negatives and a 6 x 9 format camera. Both the subject and negatives are treated with pigment in order to achieve the vibrant hues evident in the final product.
The emphasis on the eyes of each subject was inspired by the range of emotion observed by the artist of the women whose lives were forever altered by the conflicts also experienced by Alkarim. As a result of his personal experiences during multiple conflicts in his native country, Alkarim has long sought a plane of existence based on state of mental freedom despite repressive circumstance. He believes that love must be the key to this transcendent place and that each individual possesses the potential to reach it, often hidden beneath a complex series of emotional layers. The color that resonates from each subject in this series represents each individual's ''Hidden Love.''
