Etel Adnan’s works on paper are not as widely known as her paintings, but they provide a rich and deep investigation into her work. Sometimes they take the form of ‘leporellos’, book-like narrative drawings; sometimes they are traditional works employing India ink, pastels or watercolors. Adnan first learned of the leporello form in the mid-1960’s and discovered that in these folded forms she could mix drawing with her writing and poetry. Several works on paper from the 1970’s are presented alongside a leporello work, which provide a counterpoint to Adnan’s new paintings. Also shown, a tapestry that translates the rich colors and delicate sensory shifts of her paintings and works on paper to wool.
Etel Adnan (b. 1925, Lebanon) is a poet and painter. She studied philosophy at the Sorbonne, Paris. She began painting as an alternative means of expression, though she continued to write poetry and prose. In 1977, her novel Sitt Marie-Rose was published in Paris, and won the ‘France-Pays Arabes’ award. It has been translated into more than 10 languages, and has become a classic of War Literature.
Etel Adnan 的紙品畫作雖然不如其油畫般聞名，但卻讓
人對她的作品有更深厚的理解。她的紙品畫作形式不
一，有時是如書本般的敘述式摺本展台（Leporello），有
時則是運用印度墨水、粉彩和水彩的傳統作品。Adnan
於二十世紀六十年代中期首次接觸摺本展台﹐發現這種
摺本式的藝術能讓她把繪畫、寫作和詩詞結合起來。是
次展出除了一些 Adnan 在隨後七十年代創作的紙品畫作
外，還有她的摺本展台作品，帶來與現今新作截然不同
的風格。同場展出的還有一幅織錦作品﹐羊毛材質上呈
現 Adnan 油畫和紙品畫作中的豐富色彩與細膩動人的筆
觸。
身兼詩人及畫家的 Etel Adnan，1925 年於黎巴嫩出
生，畢業於法國巴黎索邦學院心理學系，及後以繪畫作
舒發情感的另一種表達方式。1977 年，Adnan 的小說
Sitt Marie-Rose》於巴黎出版，並獲頒「France-Pays
Arabes 獎 。小說其後被翻譯成 10 多種語言，成為戰爭
文學的經典。
