LALLA ESSAYDI

Lalla A. Essaydi, Morocco-born, New York - based artist lived in Saudi Arabia for many years. Her art, which often combines Islamic calligraphy with representations of the female body, addresses the complex reality of Arab female identity from the unique perspective of personal experience. In much of her work, she returns to her Moroccan girlhood, looking back on it as an adult woman caught somewhere between past and present, and as an artist, exploring the language in which to “speak” from this uncertain space. She works in numerous media, including painting, video, film, installation, and analog photography. "In my art, I wish to present myself through multiple lenses -- as artist, as Moroccan, as traditionalist, as Liberal, as Muslim. In short, I invite viewers to resist stereotypes."

Her work is found in a number of public collections, including the Williams College Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Kodak Museum, the Fries Museum, Netherlands, the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, The Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio, The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston..

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Artist Statement