Diptych A - Beirut My Love
Diptych A - Beirut My Love
By Lara Youakim
In Artworks
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Item details:
▸ Features: Unique Piece▸ Materials: Canvas
▸ Art technique: Acrylic Painting
▸ Dimensions (cm): 60.0 x 60.0 x 1.6
▸ Net Weight (kg): 2.0
In this work, I wanted to show the strong contrast between the old Beirut with its architecturally beautiful elements and the new Beirut, offering nothing.
Production Year: 2016.
750$ each if sold together | 975$ each if sold separately.
Artist Statement:
I have been drawing and painting since a very young age; color and painting are my language — vivid, pulsating, rhythmic, and alive. Born and raised in a traditional Beirut house, I later spent 15 years in China and 7 years in Bali, experiences that deeply shaped my blend of influences and techniques. My art is a reflection of the cultures I have lived in and loved.
My work is an ode to Beirut — its fading beauty and soul. It portrays the painful contrast between preservation and modern chaos, denouncing the destruction of my hometown and the soulless, endless constructions stripping it of its identity and making it resemble any other city. Other recurring themes include people (for a city without people has no soul), trees, and women — both symbols of life. My art weaves traditions, cultures, and emotions, spanning from Asian influences to Beirut’s soul in crisis.
Alongside a rich background in traditional and contemporary techniques — including fresco, lacquer, calligraphy, Batik, and Ikebana — I also work with watercolor, ink, drawing, etching, and acrylic. I have a particular love for mixed media, blending Western and Eastern techniques, combining precision with intuition, and balancing structure with fluidity.
About Lara Youakim
Lara Youakim was born in 1968 and spent her childhood in Beirut, where she began her artistic education at ALBA (Académie Libanaise des Beaux-Arts). She later moved to Paris to continue her studies at the Académie Charpentier, École Boulle, and ENSAAMA/Atelier de Serres. Her training focused on mural arts - including fresco, lacquer, and mosaic - as well as traditional religious iconography, which she studied at the Ateliers de la Mairie de Paris.
Lara then pursued a major in Chinese language and civilization, leading her to settle in China for 15 years. During that time, she spent seven years studying traditional Chinese painting and calligraphy. She also trained in the Japanese floral art of Ikebana, receiving certification from the Kyoto Ikebana School.
In the later years of her time in Asia, Lara divided her time between China and Bali, where she explored various local crafts. She took courses in Balinese sculpture, silver jewelry making, batik, and bamboo and rattan weaving, further enriching her artistic practice.
In addition to her extensive international training, Lara has continued to expand her skills in Beirut, attending workshops in silkscreen printing, weaving, and etching techniques. She was recently awarded a Certificate of Artistic Achievement from the Luxembourg Art Prize.
Deeply curious about artistic processes, Lara’s work reflects a blend of techniques and diverse cultural influences, - Asian, Lebanese, and Western. Her pieces have been exhibited in China, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Paris, and beyond.
Initially, her art was primarily influenced by themes of femininity and Asian aesthetics. However, since returning to Beirut, her focus has shifted. Confronted by the city's rapid, chaotic transformation, she began exploring the emotional and cultural aftermaths of urban change. Living in a traditional Beirut home, she expresses concern over the city's unchecked modernization and the disappearance of its historical and human fabric. She critiques the loss of old Beirut's soul, where new buildings, despite their individual beauty, often clash with their surroundings due to a lack of urban planning and sensitivity to place.
Today, Lara’s work centres around three key themes: the soul of Beirut, its people, and nature, with trees as recurring symbols of life and continuity.