Christine Safatly

Lives and works in Beirut, Lebanon

Artist statement

My artistic practice is grounded in research, philosophy, and lived experience, shaped by both individual and collective realities in Lebanon and beyond. I investigate posthumanist philosophy, questioning anthropocentrism and exploring the interdependence between human bodies, non- human entities, and technological systems. Through this lens, I approach art as a method of inquiry and communication, using materiality as a language capable of conveying complex ideas, emotions, and embodied experiences. I work across drawing, painting, sculpture, and installation, employing a wide range of media including chemical and natural acrylics, watercolor, spray paint, charcoal, soft, oil pastels, and ink. I often choose unconventional surfaces such as polyester tablecloths, and rusted bed sheets, alongside sculptural materials that include industrial, found, natural, and synthetic elements— ranging from wire and plastic to latex, silicone, salt, and sugar. These materials are not merely formal choices but conceptual tools, carrying social, political, and ecological meaning. Their physical properties allow me to explore ideas of contamination, fragility, resilience, and transformation. Central to my practice is the deconstruction of the body—both human and non-human—as a way of examining its inseparability from the environment. I challenge the notion of the body as a closed or autonomous entity, instead understanding it as porous and continuously shaped by ecological systems. Polluted...

Artwork

• Seafaring, 2023. Chemical acrylic paint, spray paint, soft pastel, and charcoal on sheet bed rusted.
• Lemon tree 3, 2023. Natural acrylic paint, charcoal, feutre and pencil on plastic sheet table.
• Virgin forest in the setting sun, 2023. Chemical acrylic paint, natural acrylic paint, soft pastel, pencil, oil pastel and feutre on polyester sheet table.
• Sentient species 19000, 2023. Chemical acrylic paint, natural acrylic paint, soft pastel, pencil and feutre on cotton watercolor pad.
• Sentient species 19898, 2023. Chemical acrylic paint, natural acrylic paint, soft pastel, pencil and feutre on cotton watercolor pad.
• Sentient species 10762, 2023. Chemical acrylic paint, soft pastel, feutre, spray and pencil on paper.
• Chemical acrylic paint, spray paint, soft pastel, and charcoal on sheet bed rusted., 2022. Fabric, nails, stapler technique, latex, wire, tape, plastic, salt, sugar, acrylic paint and electronic.
• Outside Inside Outside 4, 2022. Fabric, nails, stapler technique, latex, wire, tape, plastic, salt, sugar, acrylic paint, electrical wire
• The Athropological Machine 2, 2022. Fabric, nails, stapler technique, latex, wire, tape, plastic, salt, sugar, acrylic paint and electronic.
• Outside Inside Outside 3, 2021. Fabric, nails,stapler technique, latex, wire, tape, plastic, salt, sugar, and acrylic paint.
• X Ray Scanner 2, 2021. Pencil, feutre colors, charcoal, and acrylic on paper.
• Untitled - Lost 9, 2020. Pencil, and soft pastel.
• Untitled - Lost 8, 2020. Pencil
• Untitled - Lost 2, 2020. 29.5 x 45 cm
• Untitled - Lost 5, 2020. Pencil
• Piece 2, 2020. Bras and wires.
• Piece1, 2019. Bras, shirt and nails.