Where Roots Touch the Light
Karim Abu Shakra

In Where Roots Touch the Light, Karim Abu Shakra paints the plants of Palestine not as still lifes but as living symbols of endurance, memory, and quiet defiance. Cactus, zaatar, khurfaish, and olive are not only plants; they are keepers of stories and witnesses of time. The cactus, in particular, stands tall in Karim’s work. A plant that survives the harshest lands, it grows with grace where nothing else can. Uproot it, and it does not die. It holds on, finds light, and continues. Patient like the Palestinian people, it is rooted in history, resilient against every wind. Karim paints with oil on paper and canvas, guided by feeling rather than plan. He draws without sketches – bold and unstructured – letting the emotion of the moment shape his lines. In the quiet of his basement studio, art becomes daily life, and life becomes color. Surreal, vibrant, and sometimes haunting, his images carry the weight of place and spirit. Inspired by his late uncle, Asim Abu Shakra, and the folk forms of Palestinian art, Karim creates a world that draws from both reality and dreams, yet speaks with its own voice. His recent works experiment with patterns and shapes, rooted in nature but reaching beyond it.

In these works, land becomes poetry. Cactus, zaatar, khurfaish, and olive grow beside memory. Each leaf, each spine, each stroke of green or brown reminds us that beauty can be an act of resistance, that patience is strength, and that roots grow even in stone. Where Roots Touch the Light is not only a tribute to plants but also to people, to their love of the land and their will to remain. It is an invitation to pause, to look, and to feel how deeply a plant can speak, and how deeply a painting can belong.