Shelter

Sam Dabboussy completed a Fine Arts Degree at the College of Fine Arts at the UNSW, and also holds a Bachelor of Teaching, Secondary School Visual Arts, from the University of Sydney. Besides his full time job as a commercial builder, he spends his evening in landscape painting, both natural and urban. He has been participating in several art prizes over the years including most recently the Gallipoli Art Prize 2020 where he was a Finalist.

In his words: Sam is passionate about painting on large canvases using oils, but is also drawn to the delicate art of painting with water colours. Shelter is an imaginary illustration of tranquility amongst chaos that the artist experienced during his last visit to Tripoli, Lebanon in 2019 and after leaving his parents’ hometown in 1976. As he arrived after the revolution, it took him two days to finally reach Tripoli, with protestors flooding the roads and halting traffic. Unable to leave Tripoli he fled to the coastal road. This abandoned seaside resort at the forefront gave shelter to many Syrian families, and the city of Tripoli on the horizon housed thousands more Syrian refugees. A safe haven in a climate of unrest. Samia