Artists

Hiba Schahbaz

Press release

Dragons are found in the collective imaginary of most cultures. While they may have different significations—being evil or affectionate, shy, aggressive or wily—these creatures have exerted an enduring fascination over many civilizations because of their enthralling appearance and otherworldliness. Dragons crop up in the Persian epic poem the Shahnameh, Mughal miniature paintings, European medieval courtly romances, and in modern literature from The Lord of the Rings to Harry Potter. For the feminist novelist and poet Ursula K. Le Guin, dragons symbolized freedom: freedom to imagine and to open one’s mind to the possibilities and truths of fantasy.  “People who deny the existence of dragons are often eaten by dragons. From within,”  she wrote. Dragons tap into something primordial within us, if we allow it.

— Elizabeth Fullerton, art critic and art historian