Amalia Mourad was born (1992) and raised in Berkeley, California. Mourad primarily identifies as a painter and uses the figure, portraiture, and surreal landscape to explore issues of gender, alienation, fear, and desire. In 2013 Mourad graduated with a painting major from the College of Creative Studies at the University of California Santa Barbara. In 2016, Mourad obtained an MFA Fine Arts degree from the School of Visual Arts in New York. After graduating she co-founded the artist collective Fruit Exchange Studios in Brooklyn. Mourad has shown her work in New York, California, Miami, Montreal, Madrid, Berlin, and Lisbon and been represented at art fairs such as PULSE and Spring Break Art Show.  Mourad has been invited to participate in four artist residencies: Espositivo in Madrid (2017) PADA Studios in Barreiro, Portugal (2020 and 2022), and Zaratan in Lisbon (2022). She has had two solo shows in Lisbon the first, Roots in the Unknown, at PADA Studios in 2020 and the second, Iron Age, at Zaratan in 2023. Her work has been featured in numerous publications including as a Noteworthy artist in New American Paintings. Mourad lived in Berlin from 2018-2022 where she showed her work in various galleries and project spaces and learned German. In addition to her visual art practice, Mourad has also curated and written about shows, acted in several professional plays as part of the acclaimed East Bay Ragged Wing Ensemble, and studied classical guitar for twelve years.

This series of oil paintings on linen is inspired by the rich biodiversity and eclectic architecture that compose my hometown, Berkeley, California. Layers of colorful foliage, vibrant skies, and misty fog banks rolling up the hills, create a fantastical landscape. Soaring palm trees grow next to stately redwoods. Intricate succulents the size of my pinky finger coexist with decades-old towering agave plants. Like little gems sprinkled across the landscape, old Victorian homes invite you to peer inside and dream of having another life. 

I use tie dye to evoke the psychology of the plants and their habitats while paying homage to a tradition appropriated by Berkeley during the 60s that has become a part of the Berkeley identity. 

With a rapidly changing environment and the imminent threat of wildfires, floods, and other disasters it is more important than ever to record and reflect upon the places that hold profound meaning and beauty. Painting this landscape allows me to feel deep gratitude and appreciation for my surroundings saturated with surreal plants, wild animals, and ever-changing color and light.