Seasons of Solitude

by Sumaya Ali

Join us for the opening events of Seasons of Solitude on

Friday 9th September, 6pm and Saturday 10th September, 12 pm

About the Exhibition 

“Solitude is a silent storm that breaks down our dead branches yet sends roots deeper into the living heart of the living earth.” Kahlil Gibran

With her latest body of work, Sumaya Ali uses the universal lens of the Covid-19 pandemic to explore facets of isolation and solitude. Moving away from her disposition toward traditional portraiture featured in her previous exhibitions, Ali looked to expand her practice and delve into the world of conceptual photography in the Seasons of Solitude.

Through her in-depth research, Ali gleaned that while common threads may interweave our perspectives on the subject matter, our feelings on solitude as well as how we perform aloneness, are multi-faceted and encompass an amalgamation of emotions. These authentic experiences and their nuances are what Ali’s diverse visuality presents to the viewer.

One may find for instance that loneliness does not require physical solitude or that joyful sentiments are not always an antithetical response to being alone. The artist invites the viewer to tackle the thoughts that her images provoke. There are no rules.