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Reem is a multi-disciplinary artist and arts educator born in Bahrain to a Bahraini father and an English mother. She spent much of her childhood swimming and sea fishing in the Arabian Gulf with her family and has a deep interest in themes of cross-cultural identity and ecology. She has been living in the southeast of England for most of her life, with regular trips to visit family in Bahrain. In 2007 she gained a first class Fine Art BA (Hons). Since then she has exhibited her work in numerous exhibitions including twice at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, the ING Discerning Eye, the Ruth Borchard Self Portrait Prize and ArtBAB International Art Fair in Bahrain. In 2022 she took part in Open Plan, a group residency at the Towner Gallery and recently co-delivered a major project in response to Zineb Sidera’s exhibition ‘Can’t You See the Sea Changing?’ at the De La Warr Pavilion. The project, overseen by DLWP and Artswork, aimed to develop approaches to diversity, representation and anti-racism practices across schools in Sussex through arts, culture and creativity.
She had a solo exhibition at Rochester Gallery in 2023 in partnership with Shubbak Festival.
Reem’s current work incorporates oil painting, collage, installation and print making. She is inspired by historic European portraiture and Christian iconography, alongside influences from her Bahraini heritage. Migratory and native birds are a recurring theme in her work and act as a metaphor for her travel between ‘homes’; flora and fauna of the natural world appear symbolically and refer to superstition, history, folklore and storytelling.
She had a solo exhibition at Rochester Gallery in 2023 in partnership with Shubbak Festival.
Reem’s current work incorporates oil painting, collage, installation and print making. She is inspired by historic European portraiture and Christian iconography, alongside influences from her Bahraini heritage. Migratory and native birds are a recurring theme in her work and act as a metaphor for her travel between ‘homes’; flora and fauna of the natural world appear symbolically and refer to superstition, history, folklore and storytelling.