About — Rayya Fadlo Khuri

Rayya Fadlo Khuri (b. 1998) is a Brooklyn and London-based Arab-American artist, whose written-based practice deconstructs her disability and whose painting-based practice re-interprets contemporary landscape painting.

Through the act of writing, Khuri uses her poetic voice to express her experiences with disability and the world at large. Her words assert her story, because after epileptic episodes she briefly lost her ability to speak.

Through the act of painting, Khuri applies the principles of watercolor painting to oil and colored-pencil drawing, creating a minimalist stage that is emptied of commercial objects and enables the viewer to dream, alongside the painter. The paintings escape a traditional landscape painting that is often tied to a particular local, by embracing the liminal, unseen and forgotten, a reflection of her views of contemporary oriental paintings.

Khuri earned a BFA at Pratt Institute, majoring in Painting and minoring in Writing and Literature and Art History (Class of ‘21), leading a book club, interning at Artforum & AUB Library Archives Department on a Presidential Scholarship. Khuri, then, earned an MA at Central Saint Martins in Fine Arts, focused on the written word and painting (Class of ‘23), interning at Artforum (again), and publishing in a magazine called ClassNotes on an International Student Scholarship. After her MA, Khuri’s paintings and writings have been shown in Proposition Gallery, Hypha Studios, Lethaby Gallery, TM Lighting Gallery and Steuben Gallery between Brooklyn, London, and Beirut.

Her written work was sold at Made in the Arts London and has been collected by both the Central Saint Martin’s Library and the West Asian and North African Women’s Art Library. Her work was recently featured in offprint at the Tate as a part of Central Saint Martin stand. She recently did a writing residency with UCL X Rabbits Road Press, where they produced limited-edition risos. Khuri participated in a women’s advocacy workshop with the UNDP and the AUB Asfari Institute. Her writing was most recently on display in Forma and the West Asian and North African Women’s Art Library for a collaborative show and ongoing library. She has an upcoming show in Gallery 13B.

Please feel free to contact me in regards to my paintings or writings via email r.tulip6@gmail.com.