Layth is a visual artist and recent architecture graduate. He lives in Syria in a small town called Salamiyah, which has been known since 3500 BC and was a Christian centre under the authority of the Byzantine Empire. Salamiyah is now the largest population centre of Ismaili Muslims in the Arab world and has played a role in Ismaili history.

Salamiyah has a unique mix of cultures, religions and sects, political movements, all of which have had a great influence on him, his thoughts and of course his art. Layth has always been guided by these questions: What is art? Is what I’m doing considered art? And what is its role?

Parallel to his architecture studies, he has been practising art since 2014 under the supervision of the artist Ghassan Jaafar in his studio. He has tried to work with different art materials and techniques; pencils, charcoal, watercolours and oils, as well as some attempts at woodcut and sculpture. He sees technique not as an end in itself, but as a way of bringing feelings and thoughts onto the surface of the canvas.

Layth always paints trying to reconcile the visual and artistic demands with how others will see and receive this painting. Art is not just copying reality: he sees it as a process of dealing and interacting with the real world, nature, people and relationships.

He believes art does not always have to be expressed in a direct way; however, he prefers not to express in a superficial way but to represent reality by imitating and simplifying the relationships and processes.

Living in a country in conflict and chaos, the heavy questions about the world, culture, diversity, peace and, of course, art and its role, become more serious and insistent for him.

Escaping reality or photographing it are both ways of dealing with reality. He says that he has never drawn flowers, birds or vases, but always the concerns of his society and of humanity are in general, represented in these shapes and colours.

He says: “Every time I stand in front of a white canvas, I start a journey to discover the world and myself; a mysterious, beautiful and hard journey.”