Ayah Chakmakchi is an artist living in Rome. Her work primarily explores spiritual themes through the feminine perspective. Drawing inspiration from expressionist movements, the pieces focus on the way color and texture work deeply with deeper emotional realities. Ayah's work primarily explores the connection between physicality and spirituality. In this sense, the physical world of our senses merge with the more ethereal realm of thought and feeling. Through color, she finds a medium to express these emotional and subconscious perspectives, which otherwise could not be properly communicated. This merging of body and soul is what defines and inspires her work at large.
Expressionism Expressionism is an artistic approach that aims to express subjective emotions rather than objective reality. It does this through the use of distortion, exaggeration, and fantasy. Other elements at play include broad brush strokes, bright colors, and abstract subjects. All in all, expressionism is characterized by its intense use of color, free and textured brushwork, and emotional or mystical thematics. It was a movement that originated in German and Nordic areas, particularly during moments of intense social, political, and religious upheaval. It was during these moments of social and religious crisis, that art moved away from rational expressions, as individuals felt a need to regain feelings of authenticity and spirituality. In the end though, the most important aspect of any expressionist work is in its determination to depict something of emotional value and meaning.
Color therapy and healing (also known as chromotherapy or light therapy) is a type of holistic healing that uses the visible spectrum of light and color to affect a person’s mood and physical or mental health. Each color falls into a specific frequency and vibration, which many believe contribute to specific properties that can be used to affect the energy and frequencies within our bodies. Colors are known to have an effect on people with brain disorders or people with emotional troubles. For example, the color blue can have a calming effect which can then result in lower blood pressure, whereas the color red might have the opposite effect. Green is another color that may be used to relax people who are emotionally unbalanced. Yellow, on the other hand, may be used to help invigorate people who might be suffering from depression.