With titles like “Inside the Brain of a Bird” and “Drowning in the Tulip”, Lebanese-born artist Ihab Ahmad fires the imagination with enigmatic works populated by a myriad of colourful details.

Ihab Ahmad, *Inside the Brain of a Bird*, acrylic on canvas

Born in 1983 in the midst of Lebanon’s civil war and leaving with his family for Cyprus before coming back in 1991 to a country that had little semblance to the homeland of his memory, Ahmad struggled with feelings of displacement and alienation. Drawn to painting since a very young age, he escaped through art.

“I try to escape with my art to another place, where you find peace, love, and beauty,” he says. “All my artworks reflect joy and happiness. In art, I think people miss that.” 

Ihab Ahmad, *Catching the Butterfly*, acrylic on canvas

Vibrant colours are an important aspect of Ahmad’s work. He says that “color is abstract yet you can reflect all your emotions through it. If you put one color, you can express many feelings, so it’s a strong element in art.”

Ihab Ahmad, *Untitled*, acrylic on canvas

Ihab Ahmad, *Once Upon A Time in Bali*, acrylic on canvas

Ahmad’s canvases - densely populated with details from nature and geometry, ranging from animals, hands, and eyes to trees, flowers, and squares - seem like a dialogue with the surreal, like a set of colourful Lego pieces that you can form into a fantastic tale governed only by the further reaches of your imagination.

To me, his work is joyful but sometimes also haunted as if he is still finding his path to pure joy - a lifelong pursuit with which we can all identify.

Ihab Ahmad, *First Cat on Mars*, acrylic on canvas

Ahmad graduated in Visual Communication Art from the Lebanese University and is currently living in Dubai. He is inspired by mid-20th century surrealists - and I am particularly fond of the fun Miró-inspired “First Cat on Mars” above. You can find more of Ahmad’s art on his IG @ihabahmadartist