ARTIST

Born in Morocco in 1969 into an artistic family, Ghizlan spent much of her childhood in the studio of her father, the world-renowned painter Hassan El Glaoui. Often the subject of his portraits, she became his muse. With the inspirational and exotic surroundings of Morocco and France, for Ghizlan it was like swimming in a magic potion mixed with the rich colours of her father’s work, the heady smell of paint and linseed all around. From this world, ancient and modern, old and new, was born Ghizlan’s love of art and her unique artistic style.

Ghizlan paints with vivid colours and metalilic paints to capture light and show the essence of each subject on the canvas. The manifestation of this inner strength, painted as an outward projection of each form, is extended with the addition of illumination from behind the canvas. This creates an interactive work that reacts to the light and darkness around it, yet another bridging of modern and classic that is quintessentially Ghizlan.

Ghizlan went on to study Arts at the Academie Charpentier and developed a style influenced by her father in the use of light and colour. Modigliani, Botticelli, Klimt and Da Vinci inspired her in the use of line and texture. Raised in two worlds, Ghizlan’s physical and cultural duality found their artistic expression in the tying together of the physical and the metaphysical, the outer and inner self. The physical body serves as a bridge or conduit to a more powerful force, the inner light and aura that are the true self.

Ghizlan has devoted considerable attention to the natural essence of the female form, the sacred feminine within. Her subjects share timeless features and beauty that bare an intuition, wisdom and solemnity while revealing their complexity. Ghizlan has a gift for capturing the sacred female form, exposing the strength, enlightenment and symbolic good in all.