Isabella El-Hasan

06.07.2024 – 14.08.2024

Isabella El-Hasan, artist and illustrator based in the south of the Netherlands, grew up in Germany and the Netherlands and lived in the UK for 6 years upon graduating from the Academy of Fine Arts Maastricht, with a Bachelor in Video Design in 2008.

Her work is generally figurative, her style bold and colorful. She uses various techniques, such as: digital drawing, acrylic paint, ink on paper and recently mosaic.

„I strongly believe that art is for everyone and not just an elite thing. I encourage you to start creating, expressing through any of the creative mediums and experience
 the freedom in it“

‚Homeless‘, 
Acrylic paint on thick cardboard/paper by @isabellaelhasanart

„The painting was inspired by my experience of living in London during 2008 – 2010. On my way to work I used to encounter numerous homeless people. One girl especially stuck with me. A 16-year-old (!) sitting on the cold concrete floor in the middle of winter, begging for money, completely lost, with no help.
Having grown up pretty sheltered I had never seen so much misery in my life. It scares and fascinates me how we as humans have become so disconnected from one another in busy city life that we forget it could be us one day needing a helping hand.

In the painting we don’t see the person who is dropping the coins, but the focus lies on the girl who is receiving them. I wanted to highlight that isolation, the loneliness that is felt. How invisible the homeless often are to the rest of the world.
And whilst we in the west are living in the ‘richest’ countries on earth our societies still can’t manage to take care of one another. It seems that the richness in material is greater than our richness in humanity.“