Broken Wings

Abstract Painting

I called it "Broken Wings" because the painting is about potential that got interrupted. Not death. Not failure. Just interruption. The white shape in the center is a bird - or an angel, or part of a person - and one wing is open, the other is bent, fragmented by the geometry around it. Wings are supposed to mean freedom. Broken wings mean you remember what freedom felt like, even if you can’t reach it right now. The title is honest, not tragic. Broken can still be beautiful. What inspired you to paint this? I painted this in November 2017. It was after "Scare", "Conflict", and "Kindliness". I felt like I had been writing about other people - mothers, children, cities. With this one I had to write about myself. 2017 was the year I tried to start something big and it collapsed halfway. 

A project, a relationship, a version of me. I felt like the bird in the painting - one wing ready to fly, the other hit by the sharp shapes of reality. The bright colors around the bird aren’t background. They’re the world moving fast while you’re stuck. Pink, turquoise, gold - life is still loud and alive even when you’re broken. That contrast inspired me most. Talk about the technique. Acrylic on canvas, abstract-figurative with strong cubist/futurist influence. Faster brushwork, more movement than the other pieces.  Composition: I fractured the canvas into sharp, overlapping planes. The bird is in the center but it doesn’t dominate. The shapes cut through it. That’s the "breaking". Diagonals and curves fight each other. The large circle at the top is like a sun or an eye watching - indifferent. Color: I used high-energy contrast. Turquoise and coral for hope/energy. Deep blue and brown for weight/grief. The bird is white + pale gold - light, fragile, but not dirty. I kept it clean even while breaking it. Because broken doesn’t mean ruined. Form: The bird’s eye is a perfect yellow circle. I painted it solid, no detail. That’s awareness. Even with broken wings, it sees. The wing on the right is smooth and flowing. The wing on the left dissolves into geometric shards. That transition from curve to angle is the moment of breaking. What do you want the viewer to see? Don’t look for sadness first. Look for the tension between the shapes and the bird. See how the white wing still holds its shape even where the colors cut through it? That’s resilience.  Notice the bird isn’t falling. It’s suspended. Broken wings don’t always mean crashing. Sometimes they mean waiting, healing, learning to walk instead of fly.  Look at the bright shapes around it. The world didn’t stop for the bird. And that’s okay. Healing happens while life continues. I want you to feel recognition, not pity. If you’ve ever started something and couldn’t finish it, this painting is for you. Why is this painting close to you?

This one is close because it’s the most honest. "Scare" was my mother. "Conflict" was the world. "Kindliness" was her teaching me. "Broken Wings" is me. Every artist has a painting where they stop pretending. This is mine. I painted it with a faster, messier hand because I wasn’t trying to make it perfect. I was trying to make it true. The signature at the bottom says "A. Shamieh 11.2017" because November was the month I finally admitted: yes, I’m broken right now. And that’s part of the work too. But look - the bird still has an eye. It still has color. Broken wings can still be painted. They can still be seen. And maybe one day, they fly again.

This original painting by internationally acclaimed artist Abdelrahman Shamieh is a sophisticated addition to any collection. Known for his emotive use of texture and color, Shamieh’s work brings a sense of depth and contemporary elegance to luxury home décor and high-end office interiors. This hand-painted masterpiece is a timeless investment in fine art. Shop original artworks by Abdelrahman Shamieh online at Artezaar.com, the premier online art gallery in Dubai.

NOTE: The image shown is a close up image of the Painting. The 2nd image shows the full painting, with the following images showcasing closeups of the artwork, detailing the work done by the artist.

Painting is signed by the artist 

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