Hani Najm

If more people took the bus, cities would become better places to live in.. not purely from an environmental standpoint but also as a social concern. The digital age has made travelling unnecessary. The bus is one of the last social spaces that can possibly represent a community. Riding the bus is a time during which I observe people. My works depict the passengers sitting wearily or holding on to the bar. With their varying personalities the passengers are packed in to a closed space, clutching to a bar and feeling lost. The warm colors and simplified forms intensify the sense of desperation in trying to hold on. Those who look calm are the most exhausted.. Though everyone is stationary, everything is chaotic and in motion. The bus is a metaphor for the current state of affairs, particularly mentally. Where are they headed? There are different stations, such as status, power and greed. Those who are not happy with their circumstances are transformed by their desires into a fox, a snake or an insect. Those who are content will reach the final stop and what they Desire; what I can describe as the Village of Love. I paint a picture of what exists and what is missing. The figures confront us profoundly. They intrude in our space and scrutinize us. "Near but Far" reminds us to observe and investigate, for it is this that makes us ‘alive’. - Hani Najm