A brief period of darkness, flames and barricades VII, 2026

A brief period of darkness, flames and barricades VII, 2026, Spices, clay, soil, oil, charcoal on raw linen, 103 × 68.5 cm, 114.5 × 83 × 4 cm (framed)

The paintings in this series arise from a personal urgency to explore the functional role of art within ritual practices and its dialogue with the environment. Like all works in the series, these mixed-media pieces reflect the geography that surrounded and influenced the artist at the time. Created during a residency in France, the series takes its title from a total eclipse the artist witnessed there.

Using powders made from clay, soil, oil, charcoal on canvas, Ben Hamouda creates textural references to rock and cave surfaces related to art since the dawn of humankind. These visuals are the result of very quick gestures: of the hand, the throwing of powders and brushstrokes mimicking Arabic text that the artist has practiced since childhood. The technical skills of the latter draws parallels to the art of calligraphy, wherein the writer keeps a blank page next to the work as a surface to “warm the hand”, thus also becoming a mirror exercise of her steel and iron calligraphic works of the series Aniconism as Figurative Urgency (2021-ongoing).

Similar works are exhibited at the artist solo’s exhibition at Museo Casa Rusca, Locarno and will soon be presented at La Ferme du Buisson, Paris (both 2025).