Chahrazed Fekih

Tunisian (lives and works in Paris), b. 1970

Biography

Born in 1979, Chahrazed Fekih is a Tunisian visual artist based in Paris, where she lives and works. She taught at ISBAT (the Higher Institute of Fine Arts of Tunis) from 2006 to 2023. Her work has been featured in numerous exhibitions, both in Tunisia and internationally.

It was against the backdrop of the global COVID-19 pandemic that Chahrazed’s subtle and understated “visual thoughts” revealed their profound relevance. These works were first unveiled to the public in her inaugural solo exhibition, *Exaltation… Mysteries of Life*, held in May 2021 at Galerie Saladin.

Deeply attuned to ecological concerns, Chahrazed uses delicate layers of ink in her drawings to bring to life creatures born from an imagined, reinvented natural world. Challenging all manner of phobias, and through deft, almost magical movements of the hand, she gently tames creatures that are often among the most feared, revealing their unsuspected beauty, as well as their fragility — a fragility that seems to hang by the finest of threads, held together by the delicate line of her drawing.

In a second body of work, she invites us to discover further manifestations of her graphic ecosystem, where a form of symbiosis emerges between these complex creatures, these “forces of life”. Their interplay is enchanting, revealing a world whose secrets seem to belong to her alone.

Today, beneath the skies of Paris, and moving to the rhythm of the bees, she continues to gather inspiration from the myriad forms of living nature, allowing new works to take root and blossom.

Nationality: Tunisian (lives and works in Paris)
Born: 19700101

My artistic practice revolves around the notion of a crisis of sensibility, exploring the growing distance between human beings and their biological environment. Through the lens of entomology and scientific observation, I seek to restore a profound attentiveness to the most inconspicuous forms of life, where biodiversity reveals its utmost fragility.

My work is conceived as an attempt to re-enchant the way we see, an invitation to truly observe these minute forms of otherness that constitute the essential fabric of our world. Drawing on the visual language of contemporary drawing, I develop a distinctive graphic vocabulary in which the precision of the line engages in a dialogue with the vulnerability of the insect, transforming the biological specimen into an object of poetic contemplation.

This approach goes beyond documenting nature; it questions our interdependence and seeks to weave new connections of sensibility between human experience and the living world. Through a refined aesthetic and rigorous formal approach, I explore the tension between organic structures and their potential disappearance, turning drawing into a space of encounter where science becomes the foundation for a metaphysical reflection on our place within the biosphere.