Tala Worrell

Paintings have always aged. It’s a reflection of the irrefutable facts of life.

Tala Worrell (b. 1991) was born in New York City and raised in Abu Dhabi. Worrell’s cultural exposure as a Lebanese-American woman raised in the United Arab Emirates is steeped in diverse sets of values; prevailing is the necessity of acceptance and openness to conflicting ways of understanding. Through this lens, Worrell’s approach to abstraction is distilled in the belief that every aesthetic decision involves the resolution of ethical dilemmas. In her democratic use of materials – oils, alkyds,
and industrial paints are as valuable as less common media like za’atar, chia seeds, and sesame seeds – Worrell poignantly reflects on her multivalent background. Dichotomies fuel Worrell’s work, which involves wide-ranging experimental processes, and she employs tensions in the contrasts of surfaces, material choices, and chromatic decisions to her advantage as she considers and processes quotidian physical and visual
encounters. In her works, Worrell deftly navigates the chasm between her familial and cultural roots and her Western education.