For Vlad, this debut in Dubai is a continuation of his journey, which explores themes of identity, intuition and transformation. Born in Fribourg to a Romanian political refugee family with Levantine roots, Vlad grew up attuned to stories of displacement. “Migration is transformation,” he says. “We migrate every day, not just geographically or politically, but emotionally and spiritually.” The theme runs like an undercurrent through his work.
He explains that his process began almost by accident. Years ago, while still training as a lawyer, a painting he had made in the style of contemporary artist Gerhard Richter fell to the ground and was subsequently destroyed. The destruction revealed unexpected beauty beneath the surface. “That was the first time I worked with my hands, with an oyster knife and realised that chance could guide creation”. The episode became the seed of a career that would soon eclipse his legal one.
The exhibition brings together four major works and a never-before-seen exclusive piece, titled Garden of Colours. Created in 2025, the new piece embodies a sense of release with loose strokes and colour blooming freely across the surface. “It’s one of the first times I’ve really freed myself artistically,” Vlad says. “The strokes are less organised, but when you step back, everything makes sense, it mirrors the way life unfolds.”
Vlad works in layers of oil, epoxy resin, concrete and metal, using his hands as tools and treating light as an “invisible material.” The result is tactile, three-dimensional work that plays with shadow as much as pigment. “I use light like an unseen collaborator, it becomes visible only through the way it touches texture,” he explains.
Presenting this body of work in Dubai holds particular meaning for Vlad. His themes of heritage and transformation find a natural home in a city shaped by migration and multiplicity. “The UAE lives in constant balance between old and new, heritage and vision,” Vlad says. “It’s exactly what my work is about.”
Speaking about what he hopes visitors will take from the exhibit, Vlad says he wants his work to offer a pause. “A moment of stillness and introspection. I want people to look at my work and maybe feel something inside because I’m convinced that all the answers are within ourselves.”
His Dubai showcase runs until the end of October and Vlad is already thinking of what’s ahead, exploring immersive digital experiments, new installations and even a fashion line.
