When I Go Outside
Directed by Geordie SabbaghA portrait of Syrian-born, Kurdish artist Bîstyek. His work is a mix of everything he's been through and speaks to his evolving identity. It encapsulates his experience and of those, he met on his long journey to Canada. "When I'm painting something sad, I will be sad," he says. "When I'm painting something that hurts, while I'm painting it, I'm getting hurt. But with all that I enjoy it - when I paint, I feel that I need to paint, and I also want to finish it. When I finish it, I really want to share it." Bîstyek's work is raw, accessible, teeming with emotion, unfiltered and unsoftened. With no knowledge of Western art or any formal training, his work trauma of displaced and is also saturated with color at times, as if speaking to the multi-dimensional aspects of his experience and his subjects, creating an emotional connection and inviting us to learn more.
