Jigsaw Puzzle: "Arab Spring," by Helen Zughaib

Helen Zughaib (b. 1959) is an American painter born in Beirut, Lebanon, living mostly in the Middle East and Europe before coming to the United States to study art. She earned her BFA from the College of Visual and Performing Art at Syracuse University. Her work has been widely exhibited in galleries and museums around the world and featured in many private and public collections, including the White House, the World Bank, the Library of Congress, the American Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, the Arab American National Museum in Detroit, the Minneapolis Institute of Art, the DC Art Bank Collection, and the Barjeel Art Foundation Collection. Her paintings have been gifted to heads of state by President Obama and former Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, and have been included in the U.S. Department of State’s ‘Art in Embassies’ exhibitions abroad. She is also the recipient of the 2021-2024 Inaugural Social Practice Residency by The John F. Kennedy Center/REACH, in Washington, DC.

Zughaib’s style combines a variety of historical art references and influences, including post-impressionism, pop art, Islamic art motifs, geometric patterns, and floral arabesque. Her work, which centers around themes of cultural identity, family life, displacement, and the plight of refugees - is also focused on creating empathy and cultivating a shared space for introspection and dialogue.