Project
Faces
Faces is a journey that started randomly and has no finish line. Each time I find myself expressing the same concept with a twist, a new restriction imposed or chosen. Faces is a collection of pieces that fit together fundamentally, aesthetically, & technically.
2020
Faces 01
Watercolor and ink on paper
16x24 cm
Created during the COVID lockdown, Faces 01 began as a personal challenge to break away from the conventions of anime-inspired art style that had previously shaped my practice.
The exercise was simple: to draw faces with unconventional forms, allowing their features and proportions to respond to the shapes rather than imposing a predetermined structure.
The seemingly modest experiment became a turning point -dare I even say, a breakthrough- opening up a sense of artistic freedom and the opportunity of developing a visual language that felt like my own.
The process relied on watercolor and the wet-on-wet technique, beginning with the nose as the defining feature of each portrait; its placement established the direction of the head and guided the proportions and positioning of the remaining features.
This allowed space for a balance between intention and unpredictability; I felt like the behavior of the material influenced the character of each face beautifully.
With time, I've come to realize that the piece carried a more personal resonance when considered in the circumstances of its creation.
After nearly 2 months in lockdown with no human contact beyond my parents, I found myself missing something remarkably ordinary: The simple experience of being in a crowd.
Each figure looks in a different direction, absorbed in a world of its own, all within the same space. I find this is a particularly interesting yet ordinary kind of collective existence.
2021
Sisterhood
Embroidery
17x17 cm
After lockdown, my focus was on exploring more hands-on practices, so I was leaning into things like pottery and embroidery.
This embroidery piece was an opportunity to explore my newly developed art style from Faces 01 with another medium.
The process was more restricted first by the circular hoop which guided the face’s arrangement & general composition, second by the limited color palette (I didn’t have an infinite number of different threads).
What started as a practical constraint, gradually gave the piece its meaning. The same thread color traveled between the faces, taking different forms along the way. Felt like genetics.
Then I started noticing the warm earthy tones, it felt like it deepened the connection. This evoked a shared sense of origin and belonging.
Sisterhood was born right there and then.
2021
Cuerda Seca
Ceramics
30x30 cm
First time working with a shape I hadn’t created myself!
During a workshop on the cuerda seca ceramic technique at the Sidi Kacem El-Jellizi Center in Tunis, we were presented with a selection of pre-made plaques. I chose this particular one because I wanted to push the challenge of “working within restrictions” even further.
Cuerda Seca represents a moment of experimentation within the evolution of Faces.
It became clear to me at this stage how working with new materials and techniques gradually expanded & familiarized me to my current visual identity.
2023 - 2024
Faces 02
Acrylics on canvas
65x80 cm
2024
Blues
Acrylics on paper
32x24 cm
My medium here was leftover paint from the final touches of Faces 02 .
This spontaneous and quick piece felt like a revisit of the medium restriction axis from Faces 02 , except this time it didn’t feel like a restriction.
2025
Galets
Acrylics on air dry clay
9x10 cm
I didn’t have access to “real” clay at this time of my life, I did however have access to air dry clay and a vision.
The idea was to recreate the usual “cluster of faces” as a sculpture.
I started by shaping the “main” face and then used the remaining clay for the smaller faces.
I never got around to completing it, so Galets remains an unfinished experiment, a little glimpse of what the project could have become.
2025
Cycle
Acrylics on canvas
40x40 cm
I really liked the idea of working with a circular composition, something I had already explored with Sisterhood. This time, I wanted to fill an entire round canvas with faces arranged in a spiral, like a whirlpool.
I initially was leaning into calling it “Souls” because unlike my previous faces, these ones have no pupils. They’re not really looking at anything or anywhere in particular.
I also intentionally chose to make the negative space dark, in contrast to the white backgrounds in Faces 01 and Faces 02.
Intention with faces started a long time ago, but with this piece it was tangible.
Cycle* felt like the dark side of Faces, with its incomplete and hard to decipher expressions.
It made me reflect on how unsettling it is to realize just how isolated we can be from one another, and how much of ourselves remains unreadable to others.
Technically, I wanted to experiment with shading and give the faces more depth, since Faces 01 and Faces 02 were relatively flat.
To this day, I'm not entirely sure I pulled it off. There's still something about it I'm not 100% satisfied with, but I suppose that's part of experimenting, too.
Ironically this piece turned into a full project on its own, read more about it here!
2025
Cup
Ceramic
8x8x12 cm
In the pursuit of seeing my art in every form and with every medium, I landed this decorative piece.
At this point of the journey, I started to see how I developped a fixation over the faces.
The repetition concept within the frame of an unpredictable outcome ruled my work for a good chunk of time.
They kept finding their way into everything I make:
With a step back, it’s funny for me now how the faces even became a sort of comfort practice for other challenges like in this challenge (2023) where dimensions was the focus and faces were the comfort element to use!
2026
Moon 01
Acrylics on canvas
25x35 cm
2026
Moon 02
Acrylics on canvas
25x35 cm
After hanging Cycle on my wall, it projected “unfinished” and didn’t feel right.
The challenge here was the palette. I didn't want the three pieces to share the exact same palette, but I still wanted them to feel connected, like they belonged together without losing their individuality.
I imagined two faces: one on each side.
Thought of them as companions. They could either guard over the cycle by facing towards it or completely ignore it by facing away from it.
This is where an attempt to make Cycle feel more complete turned into a project. The three pieces could tell me completely different stories depending on their arrangement: Explore Cycle & Moons here