Mahmoud Halat

Halat Arabesque · The Collection

First solo exhibit · Meridian Arts Centre · May 23–24, 2026

About the work
The work

Inspired by Moroccan woodcarvers.

The medium is layered cardboard, laser-cut and painted, framed in hardwood. The lineage is centuries of Islamic geometric design: zellige tile, muqarnas, the rosettes carved into Moroccan madrasa doors. Each piece begins as a single drawing and ends as a sculpted relief, twenty-plus layers deep.

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From cardboard to wall

Seventeen hours of hand-work.

Every piece runs from a parametric sketch through a Thunder Laser Nova 63, hand-cleaning each layer, priming, painting in Behr Premium spray paint and hand-rolled acrylic, building the frame in hardwood, and assembling the stack with measured gaps so the shadows themselves become part of the pattern.

A large tracery layer on the Thunder Laser bed, mid-cut.
Orange-gloved hands placing the white-and-gold front layer.
Thunder Laser Nova 63 · 16 seconds of a 9-minute pass
A freshly cut sunshine pattern layer on the workbench.
A large cut layer next to its hardwood frame.
A finished khatem piece in gold with white Arabic calligraphy.

Thunder Laser Nova 63 · Behr Premium spray paint · Hand-roll acrylic · Hardwood frame

Recent from the studio

The physical pieces, this week.

Moroccan Arch in finished black with copper-star inlays.
Moroccan Arch as a raw cream-on-charcoal cut sheet.
Arabesque Water in finished cobalt-blue paint.
Fusion Tropical in finished green and lime, freshly painted.
Arabesque Fire as a raw white-on-charcoal mandala cut sheet.
A workshop ceiling lined with small khatem-pattern pieces in progress.
Wide shot of the workshop with framed pieces stacked against the wall.
Layer cut on the laser bed.
Layer cut on the laser bed.
The all-black Moroccan Arch wheeled on a red pallet jack out of the workshop.
The laser cutter mid-pass on a layer of Arabesque Water.
Geometric Tropical mid-paint in the spray booth, dark base coat going on.
Stencil layers for Geometric Sunshine laid flat before painting.
Mahmoud in green safety goggles at the laser cutter, mid-cut.
Drying racks of laser-cut layers in the workshop.
Wide shot of the Meridian Arts Centre atrium during install, multiple pieces visible.

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Pick a piece, pick a palette, and we'll email the composition back to you, with the option to reserve the original or order a desktop edition cut to fit a 12-inch shelf, from $220.

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