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Alia El-Bermani

@aliapainter

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Contemporary Figurative Artist Iraqi-Swedish-American Also follow @aliafineartstudios for classes & invited guest workshops & @aliapainter_gouache 🎨

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A brief sneak peek of what I’ve been and am still working on for the last five years, as read from my newsletter. Be sure to sign up for the next sneak release. Link in bio.

📸 @theshootingbeauty and my kids taken in Alia Fine Art Studios by @aliapainter

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3 years ago

This project has been kept very close to my chest. It is a multifaceted, multi-disciplined endeavor that calls on all parts of me. It encompasses writing, sculpture, choreography, dance, film, community and of course paint. I continue to allow this project to take as long as it needs to take. This slow time has been a fertile, sustaining place for me as an artist, as a human living in these times. Here’s a brief peek behind the curtain, at what’s been going on in the studio. #snakeproject #aliaelbermani taken in Alia Fine Art Studios by @aliapainter

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2 years ago

Rising Tide
oil on panel
34” x 54”
2013

The model for this painting wrote a very touching post yesterday for Suicide Prevention Month (quoted below). Thank you @lucy_von_light 💜

“For Suicide Prevention Month, I want to share something deeply personal-and a piece of art whose meaning has changed profoundly for me over the years.

In 2013, artist Alia El-Bermani painted ‘Rising Tide’, and I was the model. Yup that’s me. I remember going to a lake to get the looks she needed for my hair. And I definitely pulled something while gripping that cloth from the ceiling for hours.

Worth it. But that isn’t what’s special about this piece.

Alia created the painting after watching a friend she loved struggle with deep depression.

She wanted desperately to save her, but came to a painful realization: we can offer someone a lifeline, but ultimately they have to choose to reach for it and hold on.

At the time, I was simply the model. This wasn’t my story.

Little did I know that years later, I would understand that water myself.

I’ve known what it feels like when depression makes the tide feel too high. I’ve known moments when simply holding on takes everything you have.

Looking at this painting more than a decade later, there’s something incredibly powerful about realizing:

I portrayed someone reaching for a lifeline long before I knew what it would feel like to need one myself.

So this Suicide Prevention Month, my message is simple:

Hold on. Take the hand. Take the
rope. Make the call. Stay through this moment. You don’t have to feel hopeful to choose to stay.
The water may rise.
So can you.” by @aliapainter

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a month ago

Join us Wednesday evenings in September & October for this 8 week Group Figure Composition class. Students will learn how to arrange multiple human figures within a single artwork to create a unified, dynamic, and readable scene. In the first two weeks we will begin by studying the value and color structures of historical paintings to build our vocabulary and understanding of complex, group figure compositions. We will then use the remaining six weeks to work with multiple, live, clothed models to create an interesting and engaging multi-figure oil painting. Students will learn to manage focal points, overlapping shapes, visual weight, and space to compose a compelling multi-figure narrative painting. Class size is limited to just 12 students - so grab your spot soon!

This will be our final weekly class offered in our current amazing studio. We will have to move at the end of the year. Don’t miss this chance to work in this ideal studio designed by @aliapainter specifically for working with the live model under beautiful light!

https://alia-fineart.com/product/group-figure-comp-fall-2026/ taken in Alia Fine Art Studios by @aliapainter

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2 months ago

Last week was pretty special. So honored to have been included in the inaugural Clay Sisters Retreat created by @alicianponzio in San Francisco. Besides sculpting along side each other all day we had some fun evening adventures with incredible dinners and enjoying the acrobatics of Dear San Francisco @clubfugazisf

Thank you to Alicia and all the local sisters who helped Alicia make this happen @jacquegiuffre @heidi_wastweet @ptheissn and especially @karenmontgomery7 for hosting me in your beautiful home! taken in San Francisco, California by @aliapainter

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3 months ago

So pleased to share this painting has been placed in a prominent collection. This painting has literally traveled the world. Hear Me was first exhibited @zhoubartcenter in Chicago, then @salmagundiclub in NYC with @artrenewalcenter , @sothebys in Los Angeles, @meammuseum in Barcelona among others. She has won awards with @the_portrait_society and @loredegensteingallery as well as being featured in numerous magazine articles. I’m so pleased she has found her home. Thank you @craven_allen_gallery

Hear Me
oil on aluminum panel
40” x 30”
2017 by @aliapainter

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4 months ago

Jalen
oil on copper
20 inch tondo
2026

Frame by @1642designs

The most recent collaborative portrait for my Artists I Adore series is of former student @jalentjackson Jalen first came to my teaching studio @aliafineartstudios in 2018. While taking drawing and painting classes with me at night, he was simultaneously working on his bachelors degree at NC A&T. His drive and hunger were palpable. When I was able to expand my studio into a larger space I offered Jalen a free studio space within my own, for just over a year. It was the most direct mentorship I had ever endeavored. It was such a joy to have Jalen in my studio. Our daily interactions helped shaped both of our futures. I feel so honored to be a part of this remarkable human’s growth. Jalen is a 🌟 Y’all better be watching! Jalen, thank you for making time for this portrait in the midst of your MFA finals madness. I truly adore you and am so glad this portrait could be a part of the show! Make sure you take note of Jalen’s contribution to this portrait- a tiny self portrait within a portrait that refers to a triptych of his called Middlesex, which you may have seen on a billboard on the grounds of the @ncartmuseum

This portrait is on view in my solo show Perennial @craven_allen_gallery through July 11, 2026. Artist Talk THIS Saturday June 20 at 2p!! by @aliapainter

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4 months ago

Join me THIS Saturday June 20th at 2pm for my Artist Talk @craven_allen_gallery

Pictured is my self portrait I am a Special Snowflake, oil on aluminum panel, 60” x 36” This too was a collaborative portrait in a way… I’ll tell you all about it at the Artist Talk.

My solo show Perennial will continue to be on view thru July 11th though some pieces are being released to collectors early. I hope to see you Saturday. by @aliapainter

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4 months ago

Rebecca
oil on copper with yarn and copper wire
20” tondo
2026

Frame by @1642designs

The next in my collaborative portrait series The Artists I Adore is of my dear friend @illustratedbe Rebecca Boggs (or Be as those of us who know her well call her) is a fiber artist, painter and illustrator. She chose to lean into her crochet skills with this collaboration. She added elements of a Dogwood tree which represents rebirth and resilience. Moving to North Carolina has been both of those things for her. The dogwood also happens to be the State flower of North Carolina. I’m so proud to know and love this brilliant human.

This work is on view and available for purchase at my solo show Perennial @craven_allen_gallery through July 11, 2026. Artist Talk Saturday June 20 at 2p. Join me! by @aliapainter

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4 months ago

Clarence
oil and variegated gold leaf
on copper
20” tondo
2026
Frame by @1642designs

The next collaborative portrait I did for my Artists I Adore series was of my studio mate @clarenceheywardart Clarence and I first met it 2019 when he became one of the original Anchorlight Brightwork Fellows at my studio building. It was his first leap into being a full time artist. Being witness to his meteoric success has been a privilege. I always appreciate his candor and clarity when it comes to the business of art. For a sappy, poet of an artist, it’s helpful to have that grounding right next door. Clarence contributed his signature variegated gold leaf to the camouflage.

This work is on view in my solo show Perennial thru July 11, 2026 @craven_allen_gallery Artist Talk Sat June 20th at 2p by @aliapainter

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4 months ago

Samantha
oil on copper
20” tondo
2025

Frame by @1642designs

The next collaborative portrait I painted for my Artist I Adore series was on the incredible photographer Samantha Everette. She too did not want to add anything specifically to the painting, but instead made a documentary short film on my current long term project. Here’s your chance to peep on my “snake project” also known as The Futures We Behold. Link below as well as on my bio. Make sure you also check out more of @theshootingbeauty @shootingbeautystudio incredible work! Hire her for your next shoot- you will not regret it.

This work is included in my solo show Perennial which is on view thru July 11, 2026. Artist Talk Sat June 20 at 2p. Come thru.

https://youtu.be/85apZ2oS19Y?si=cTpxQ0Z8he2OGQIC by @aliapainter

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4 months ago

Courtney
oil on copper
20” tondo
2026

This was the next collaborative portrait I painted for my Artists I Adore series. @courtney.has.words is a writer and this work includes her own poem inscribed into the copper, in her own handwriting around the perimeter of the circle, much like the words around coins and currency. Here she values herself and inevitable change.

This work is on view in my solo show Perennial until July 11 @craven_allen_gallery Artist Talk Sat June 20 at 2p.

Dutch Ripple Frame by @1642designs by @aliapainter

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4 months ago