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A practice rooted in memory and place.

Zeina Kara Ali is a visual artist currently based in Accra, Ghana, after living and practising in Australia from 2019 to 2026. Born and raised in Lebanon, her work is deeply shaped by memory, place and the visual language of the environments she has inhabited throughout her life.

Kara Ali holds a Bachelor of Biology, an education that developed her close attention to observation and detail. She later pursued formal art training in Sydney, including studies at Sydney Art School, with a focus on landscape painting and painting techniques. Her years living between Lebanon, Ghana and Australia have contributed to a practice informed by different cultures, landscapes and domestic environments.

Working primarily in acrylic on canvas, Kara Ali has developed a contemporary realist style characterised by bold colour, crisp forms, strong light and shadow. Her paintings often begin with familiar places, objects and moments, transforming the ordinary into compositions that explore memory, belonging and human connection. Although figures are often absent, a sense of human presence remains through architecture, arranged tables, food, flowers and personal objects.

Her earlier body of work explored the traditional architecture of Lebanon and the emotional connection between home and memory. This culminated in her first solo exhibition, Arches Memory, at Hurstville Museum & Gallery in Sydney in 2024. Her more recent practice has expanded from architectural spaces into still life and scenes of everyday gathering. Through the recurring image of the table, she explores ideas of shared meals, ritual, care, connection and the way ordinary details become embedded in memory.

Kara Ali has exhibited in numerous group and prize exhibitions in Australia and has been selected as a finalist for several art awards, including the Fisher's Ghost Art Award, Burwood Art Prize, Summer Art Prize and Mosman Art Walk Exhibition.

Before moving to Australia, Kara Ali ran an art studio in Accra, where she created a collaborative environment for artists and students and organised workshops for adults and children. She has also contributed to community and charitable art programs for women and children in Ghana.

Now based again in Accra, Kara Ali continues to develop a body of work centred on memory and the quiet significance of everyday life. Through colour, light and carefully observed details, she seeks to preserve moments that may appear ordinary when lived, but often become the ones we remember most.

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