Lebanese artist Caleen Ladki was born and lived in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia until she moved to London at the age of 15. She graduated with honors in 2011 from Central St Martins with a BA in Textile Design, specializing in print. During her time at CSM, Caleen was a semi-finalist in a competition to design the Evoke Radio by Pure. Her work during this period reflected her natural flair for pattern and symmetry and her bold use of color.

In 2014, Caleen moved to Beirut, which ignited the catalyst for a contrasting series of paintings, all of which explored her response to and experience of the environment she was living in. The first series, Birds of Freedom, was about the struggle. The second series, All Eyes On You, was about the experience and reconciliation. The latest series, When Birds Fly and The Mind Roams, is the understanding, the dreaming, and acceptance. This is the journey the artist went through to be free, free to dream.

Caleen’s paintings stand alone, but collectively they tell her story. They deal with themes of calm and conflict, freedom and confinement, modernity and tradition. But each one is striking in its bold use of color and distinctive use of pattern: sometimes soothing, sometimes stimulating, but always a joy to behold.

Caleen’s first solo show called ‘Uncertainty’ was exhibited at Artbooth Gallery in Abu Dhabi in 2023. More recently, she is currently exhibiting in the group show ‘Recap’ at Artbooth Gallery. Caleen has also exhibited her work in London at Marie Jose Gallery and in Abidjan at the Walls of Art Gallery. She has sold several pieces to the prestigious Oakridge Hotel in Lebanon and has been part of two group shows with Artbooth UAE, exhibiting in ABC Mall in Beirut. Her paintings are part of several private collections in the Middle East, Europe, and USA.