
Aymen Mbarki Tunisian, b. 1983
19.69h x 25.79w in
Aymen Mbarki’s work involves a visual correspondence between hand, gesture, paper, and memory. Drawn on old sheets salvaged from the Medina of Tunis, on a body of paper compiled and marked by traces of time, each work foretells what will crystalize with a silent request: to respond. This series of drawings is intuitive, dedicated to the intervention of his ink on paper. It carries within it minimal gestures that trace an inner rhythm, capturing the essence of living beings and unseen forces.
Unified by a single black line, the series invites a dialogue between past and present, between the personal and the archetypal. These works do not depict in the traditional sense, they conjure up a scene. Influenced by poetry, ancient myth, and the aesthetics of theatrical tragedy, each piece becomes a fragment of a larger narrative, where the figure, the gesture, and the medium converge in the ultimate denouement.
What emerges is not only image, but invocation; a trace that links the old papers’ solar dreams to contemporary visions. The works ask us to consider drawing as an act of listening, a response across time, and a ritual of remembering.