Mayssa Fakih
About
Mayssa is an award winning artist who has taken painting courses at both The College for Creative Studies, and University College London, but is truly a self taught artist. She addresses creativity through her ability to revert into her childlike lens, allowing her to create from a place of intuitive expression. She was raised in the suburbs, right outside of Detroit, and has been creating art as early as she was capable of holding a pencil. As long as she can remember she has been outlining people’s faces in her head and imagining the different colors that could tell a stranger’s story. She has been painting since high school, but has been creating since she was five years old. Mayssa was influenced by the art scene in Detroit; from the Graffiti to spending weekends visiting the DIA. In addition, a great influence was her mother who would go to flea markets and filled the walls of her childhood home with paintings of strangers’ faces, where Mayssa often wondered what the story was behind these unknown faces. The backbone of inspiration for Mayssa’s art has always been telling people’s stories and giving to others and herself a platform for expression. Her first series of paintings was titled “struggles of humanity” which was exhibited in a conference for the Access foundation in Washington D.C. and AANA museum in Detroit. Additionally she has showcased her art in the Detroit Institute of Art Museum and has sold her art to raise money for children in Haiti, and other struggling communities. She is currently working on a series of paintings based on people connecting to their child selves and finding the magic in the mundane, which she will be exhibiting in ten group shows this year. She hopes to always create art that allows humans to connect on a soul level, and sparks conversation, exploring what it means to embody the various human experiences.
Artist Statement
Mayssa’s paintings focus on humans, in both figure and portrait, to tell a story through facial micro-expressions, movement, or a scene between humans. Mayssa has a fascination with lines, colors, and textures to illustrate feelings that go beyond words. Many of her current pieces are based on the mundane moments within life; like sitting in the grass or sticking one’s head out of the window. Her painting style transforms these mundane moments conjuring a dream like quality. She embodies a surrealist abstract approach using unusual color pairings, varying brush strokes, and contrasting textures. Mayssa often includes jarring or illogical subject matter in the background of her paintings such as random objects or aspects of nature to symbolize deeper meanings and the subconscious mind. She believes that there are many moments in life that are similar to dreams, seeming random and obscure, but, when analyzed deeper, the meaning and harmony reveal itself. Her art ignites curiosity and a sense of wonder through simply observing the beauty of humans in the form of texture, lines, and color. She aims to create paintings that hold the same dream-like quality where the viewers of her work get to experience the collision of imagination and reality.