Where we Meet
24 March - 21 April 2026 · London
FEATURED ARTISTS: Neda Dana-Haeri, Shooq AlShawi
Hands-on and Janet Rady Fine Art are pleased to present Where We Meet, a presentation of works by Neda Dana-Haeri and Shooq AlShawi.
Where We Meet brings together the works of Dana-Haeri and AlShawi, two artists whose practices unfold as meditations on breath, memory, and the unseen harmonies that shape human experience. Through layered abstraction, both artists create spaces of felt presence, each approaching it through different pathways - Dana-Haeri through atmospheric and tonal reflection, AlShawi through embodied gesture and continuity.
For both artists layering is not merely material but metaphysical. It is the accumulation of time, the sediment of story, the rhythm of breath. Their works exist in a space between stillness and movement, existence and nonexistence, memory and immediacy. Each piece functions as a living form: an encounter that bridges theory and practice, the visible and the felt.
A convergence of gestural abstraction and cultural inheritance shapes this dialogue. AlShawi’s work embodies legacy and bodily presence, while Dana-Haeri’s atmospheric surfaces reflect enduring resonance. Neither seeks representation; instead, they invite surrender to complexity and calm, to a conversation that unfolds within the viewer. Both are acts of courage: to sit with the self, and to invite the self to sit.
BIOGRAPHIES
Neda Dana-Haeri is an Iranian-born painter and printmaker whose work is deeply inspired by Persian poetry and Eastern philosophy. Drawing on the mythic and lyrical worlds of poets such as Rumi and Hafez, her paintings reflect images of the past - myths and fluid stories that transform over time while carrying the unconscious emotions that shape daily life. She studied Psychology and Fine Arts and has lived in England since 1977, where she continues to live and work in London.
Working across canvas, paper, and wood, Dana-Haeri creates layered surfaces that combine oil, acrylic, ink, and mixed media. Her compositions build depth through colour and texture, reflecting and refracting poetic, philosophical, and emotional worlds into distilled visual form. Bringing memory, myth, and poetry together, her practice unfolds as a meditation on cultural inheritance and the enduring resonance of story.
Dana-Haeri has exhibited widely in the United Kingdom and internationally, with presentations at venues including Diba Art. Her work has also been featured in publications on contemporary Middle Eastern art, and she continues to develop a practice that bridges language and image, past and present.
Shooq AlShawi is a Bahraini, London- based painter whose practice explores legacy as an infinite ripple connecting past and present. Drawing on gestural abstraction, Baroque painting, and Islamic art, her work translates inherited visual languages into contemporary form. Breath and movement guide her mark-making, where oil, oil stick, and pastel combine to create layered surfaces that pulse with rhythm and continuity. AlShawi studied at the University of the Arts London, London College of Fashion (BA Hons, 2010), and completed a Foundation in Art and Design at Newcastle College (2006).
Working primarily at large scale, AlShawi’s compositions blend structure and spontaneity. Linear gestures and repeated marks build depth and texture, while light and colour converge to materialize presence and vibration. Still life and floral subjects often appear at moments of transition, allowing her to explore impermanence and transformation. Her paintings invite viewers to inhabit a space where abstraction articulates oneness, and the infinite is felt as an interior condition.
AlShawi’s work has been shortlisted for ArtEvol 2025: Voices from the Undefined at the Saatchi Gallery and will be shown in 2026 at the Bahrain National Museum’s Annual Art Exhibition, alongside group exhibitions in London and Bahrain. She will also join a residency at Turps Banana. Working from her London studio, AlShawi continues to create paintings that connect audiences with the enduring resonance of presence, breath, and legacy.
