Asmaa Alanbari

‘My fine art practice is about what I cannot express by other means. It is about the animal in us, the subconscious will, the uncanny and the beautiful.

At this time, I am focusing on identity based fantasy, using props to stage photographic shoots. The resultant series, “Fant-asmaa” shows me wearing on the outside what I usually try to control and manage on the inside. The bull and a pair of wings are metaphors for my daily inner psyche. The bathrobe is a symbol of clothing for one’s nudity, it is also home to the undressed body.

“Fant-asmaa” is equally about the gaze, and is my response to the ubiquitous mass media imagery depicting women as stereotypes. The female nude body is often appropriated by the media, it is often seen through the traditional male gaze. There is not enough imagery showing the depicted woman’s experience, where her body, even if it is unclothed, is more about her than about the viewer. Her skin may or may not arouse a desire… that is a natural part of human existence.

Desire would just happen, as a by-product, not the subject.’

Exhibited at Griffin Gallery in Source in July 2013 and Young Gods in January 2016.

BORN

1978, Babylon

EDUCATION

MA Fine Art, Chelsea College of Art, London, 2015

MSc Architecture, Paris Ecole Speciale d’Architecture

(Last updated 18.01.2016)