About Ghadah Al-Rabee
Ghadah AlRabee was born in Medina in 1979 and studied Home Economics and Art Education at Taibah University in Madina. She has taught at private and government schools for a while and organized various art workshops. Ghadah’s passion for drawing started since she was in the fourth grade of primary school. She taught herself and worked hard to become an artist. She has been an active member of the art scene in Madina since 2004 and has presented her artwork in many local art exhibitions. The year 2013 was a turning point in artist Ghadah's life, as it was the first solo exhibition at Athr Gallery in Jeddah as part of their annual event, “Young Saudi Artists” , And still showcasing her artworks and marketing them through Athr gallery. In 2014, she participated in “Almualaqat” exhibition, the opening exhibition of the first edition of “21,39 Jeddah Art”. Internationally, Ghadah presented her work in different countries, including Kuwait, Dubai, Russia, and the United States. Many of her works were purchased locally and internationally.
Artist Ghadah’s Philosophy:-
The artist Ghadah takes great pride in her niqab, and it represents an integral part of her personality and belief formation. She sees it as an innovative way to encourage people to search for the human being standing behind this veil. By doing so, she believes prospecting for what goes on in her mind and thoughts should be away from superficial thinking and irrational judgments that affect people’s attitudes based on the external appearance. She also believes that the niqab is a personal freedom that does not come in the way of her success as a woman artist. For her, there is no doubt that the world is on the verge of a real openness that guarantees her right to wear the niqab and gives her an opportunity of being treated equally to those without, eliminating the chances to deal with preconceived judgments that are solo based on her external appearance. Hence, the artist’s philosophy came to use candy wrappers to produce her artwork. Candy wrappers represent the external appearance of these candies. After eating the candy, these wrappers are considered as trash in the eyes of many people. Not for Ghadah, though. She sees them as a playful, attractive material that attracted many to buying the candy in the first place. She understands the competitive nature of packaging candy that companies allocate money and effort to distinguish their products from other companies. Frankly, this same wrapping that companies focus their attention on while producing candies and the reason buyers are attracted to these candies is the same wrapping thrown in the trash after finishing eating the candy.
