Afra Alsuwaidi
Hidden truths will reveal themselves
Alsuwaidi uses sculpture, collage, and mixed media to draw out the hidden narratives she studies. The process of her works reveals their emotional backdrop. As each object is created, formed, and finished, the artist is contending with the trauma and internalized pain held within each evocation. Often working with familiar objects from childhood, Alsuwaidi’s process submerges their innocent memory beneath the aftermath of abuse. For example, in her work ‘Recess’, teddy bears have had their original function destroyed by layers of plaster before being re-colored in appealingly soft, warm pastels. Playtime has been upturned by a disturbing undercurrent questioning how proximity and closeness can leave us feeling safe or unsafe.
The violent rendering of innocuous objects
A manifestation of discomfort, her works studying pillows are anything but light and fluffy. Firstly, Alsuwaidi pours plaster onto canvas before wrapping it in a plastic bag, recreating the process of suffocation. She then removes the plastic in order to manipulate the slowly hardening sculpture with her bare hands, leaving marks of struggle. The artist remembers a story from a friend who felt the violent edge of insecurity when her head would hit the pillow to rest, while her thoughts simultaneously formed sharp tools, poised to destroy her sanity. The violent rendering of innocuous objects runs throughout Alsuwaidi’s practice, be it in the seductive use of candy sweets or a weaponized child’s toy. In her own words, Alsuwaidi uses these basic forms and shapes “to create visual representations of the internalized pain of childhood loss by young women and children who have suffered abuse”.
Text by Constance Chester
I believe that through my work it is possible to examine social sufferings, abuses, trauma, and violence.
Biography Afra Alsuwaidi
born 1992 in Dubai, UAE
Education
2016 BA Visual Art and Design at Zayed University, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Exhibitions (selection)
2021
Beyond: emerging artist, Cromwell Place, London, UK
37th Annual Exhibition, Emirates Fine Arts Society, Sharjah, UAE
2020
WIP show by Blee, Aisha Alabbar Art Gallery, Dubai, UAE
Outside in, inside out by engage 101, Bait15, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Slumber, Art space by cultural foundation, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Abu Dhabi art "Beyond Emerging Artists", Manarat Al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi, UAE
2018
35th Annual Exhibition, Emirates Fine Arts Society, Sharjah, UAE
2017
Imago Mundi, Treviso, Italy
Do Art Do It Now, Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, Manarat Al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi, UAE
The French Alliance Art Exhibition, Abu Dhabi, UAE
2016
ShowCASE Senior Exhibition, Manarat Al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi, UAE
2015
Lessedra World Art Print Annual, Lessedra Gallery and Contemporary Art Projects, Sofia, Bulgaria
Rochester Contemporary Art Center, New York, USA
Residencies
2020 Cultural Foundation Residency, Abu Dhabi, UAE
2019 Bait15 Residency, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Image Credits: Courtesy of Cultural Foundation, Department of Culture & Tourism, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Works by Afra Alsuwaidi
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Haunted
2019 / Plaster, metal / 80 x 65 x 42 cm / 31.5 x 25.6 x 16.5 in
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Sweet
2021 / Candy, resin on canvas / Ø 35 x 9 cm / 13.8 x 3.5 in
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sold
flux
2021 / Plaster, fiberglass, wood, candy wrappers / Dimensions variable
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Recess
2020 / Toy, plaster / Dimensions variable
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Circles
2020 / Plaster, toys, resin on canvas / 61 x 41 x 7 cm / 24.0 x 16.1 x 2.8 in
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Round 03
2020 / Plaster, resin on canvas / 35 x 35 x 9 cm / 13.8 x 13.8 x 3.5 in
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Stimulated
2021 / Toy, plaster on canvas / 41 x 41 x 7 cm / 16.1 x 16.1 x 2.8 in
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Round 04
2020 / Plaster, resin on canvas / 35 x 35 x 7 cm / 13.8 x 13.8 x 2.8 in
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Cover
2020 / Plaster, resin on canvas / Dimensions variable
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Pressed
2021 / Ceramic / Dimensions variable
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Lower
2021 / Ceramic / 33 x 14 x 4 cm / 13.0 x 5.5 x 1.6 in
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sold
Flux
2021 / Ceramic / Dimensions variable
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sold
Time of
2020 / Paper collage / 42 x 32 cm / 16.5 x 12.6 in (framed)
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Live in
2020 / Paper collage / 42 x 32 cm / 16.5 x 12.6 in (framed)
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Take it back
2020 / Paper collage / 42 x 32 cm / 16.5 x 12.6 in (framed)
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Knot
2019 / Plaster on canvas / 31 x 41 x 5 cm / 12.2 x 16.1 x 2.0 in
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Locked
2021 / Toys, plaster on canvas / 62 x 62 x 10 cm / 24.4 x 24.4 x 3.9 in
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Her
2020 / Plaster, nails, hair, toys / Dimensions variable
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Nails in a pillow
2020 / Plaster, nails, hair on canvas / Dimensions variable
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Ejection
2019 / Plaster, fiber glass, aqua resin on foam / Dimensions variable