Lara Sayegh
Lara Sayegh is an Iraqi British contemporary painter whose dynamic abstract practice investigates the relationship between emotion, movement, and the elemental forces of nature. Based in London, Sayegh draws deeply from her connection to the sea, a recurring presence in her life through surfing, swimming, and meditative observation. This affinity becomes the foundation for her gestural, fluid compositions, which pulse with rhythm, depth, and atmospheric colour. Working primarily in oils, Sayegh paints with her whole body. Moving around the canvas, she allows the energy of the moment to dictate the direction of each stroke. Her works often appear in a state of perpetual motion: tides rising and dissolving, light refracting across submerged forms, and textures mimicking the raw dynamism of natural environments. Paint becomes water, emotion becomes landscape, and the canvas becomes an immersive sensory field. Beyond abstraction, Sayegh also explores themes of identity and cultural heritage. Her portraiture celebrates intimate expressions of selfhood, women in moments of quiet power, reflection, and vulnerability. Through these works, she honours the stories of migration, womanhood, and lived resilience. Her exhibitions at London Art Exchange have showcased both sides of her practice, revealing an artist whose work bridges the visceral and the poetic. Whether capturing the turbulence of a storm or the stillness at its centre, Sayegh invites viewers to experience emotion not as a concept but as a physical, moving presence on the canvas.
