The Ohio Artist Registry (OAR) is an exciting opportunity for artists to share their work, connect with the creative community, and establish an online presence—all on a free, virtual platform! The OAR encourages artists working in all art forms, throughout Ohio and beyond, to create a profile, which allows them to better promote themselves and their work. Being listed in the OAR provides artists with new opportunities to share their work with clients, galleries, patrons, and audiences. A listing in the OAR does not confer an endorsement, approval, or verification by the Ohio Arts Council.
For more information, contact Kathy Signorino, artist programs director, at kathy.signorino@oac.ohio.gov or 614-728-6140.
2024 Ohio Artist Registry Juried Exhibition
Bio
Sawsan Alhaddad was born and raised in Southern Iraq, among palm groves and marshes. Although she loved art, she never considered it as a career. She became a physician and practiced in Iraq. In 1979, she & her husband immigrated to the United States where she continued her medical work in Cleveland.
In 1992, she took up watercolor as a way to relieve stress. She had no formal art education but took classes and workshops at the Cleveland Museum of Art, at the Morgan Conservatory the Orange Art Center and others in the area. She also travelled in the USA and abroad for workshops. After retiring from her job she took up art full time. She now works in watercolor, oils, pastels, encaustic, cold wax, paper making and mixed media.
Sawsan is inspired by nature, history, the human figure and travel. She works in both representational and abstract styles.
Artist Statement
I worked in a representational style for 20 years using several media including watercolor, charcoal, pastel, and oil. My inspiration was the play of light on surfaces, the mood a scene reflected.
In the past 10 years I switched to an abstract style. I wanted to convey mood, emotion and ideas without relying on objects. I took up encaustic and oil in cold wax medium for these paintings. I found that abstract painting was more challenging than representational work. I had to start again as a novice and learn another way of working
My inspiration for the abstract work is history, both personal and general, cultures, humans and nature. I find that the techniques of both encaustic and cold wax medium are very suitable for these subjects. I have to work in layers, hiding and exposing the history in the painting as I try to find answers to the questions I want to communicate.