Al Saralis

Momento II, Emily: Realistic Portrait Blended with Abstract Color Streaks

2024

Al Saralis is a British painter whose evocative figurative works explore the quiet tension between light, shadow, and human introspection. Born in a Welsh mining town in the Rhymney Valley in the 1960s, his heritage is a blend of Welsh resilience and Greek legacy, reflected in the timeless, classical sensibility of his art. A graduate of Cardiff with a degree in Fine Art, Saralis now paints full-time in Hampshire, England. His work, often featuring a solitary figure, is stripped of overt narrative yet rich with unspoken emotion. Strong chiaroscuro compositions heighten the atmosphere, drawing the viewer into moments of contemplation. While rooted in the traditions of figurative painting, his approach transcends realism—favoring an emotional truth over mere representation. Nature’s fleeting beauty is a recurring motif in his work, underscored by a subtle yet pressing awareness of climate change. His series Nothing Gold Can Stay, inspired by Robert Frost’s poignant poem, meditates on the impermanence of innocence and the cycles of life, echoed in the shifting winds and delicate environmental cues woven into his portraits. “I regard myself as a figurative painter but not a realist painter. The realism that I am interested in is the emotional connection made when making or looking at a painting,” Saralis explains. “My work has been described as conjuring a feeling of thoughtful introspection. I strive to create something beautiful as well as intriguing, contemporary as well as classical—something timeless.”