Sarah Brahim
The body as material, medium and expression
Sarah Brahim’s practice extends fluidly from her background in professional dance training, fostering a passion for movement from an early age. Her time studying at the dance conservatory in London introduced her to a more collaborative approach, where blending disciplines and media could come together to create something not only beautiful but temporal and filled with the spirit of community and connection. With dance as her springboard, Brahim produces works in film, textile, photography and performance, developing a shared language to facilitate deeper communication on subjects that otherwise evade expression. In particular, the artist draws on her experience of grief to unwind the duality present in the emotion, making it simultaneously distinctly personal and yet universally shared. Her works are a response and reflection on how we can heal both internally and externally and how art and culture can act as the vehicle for this movement.
Movement is the body’s core
At the core of Brahim’s practice is the body. Pain, grief, loss and other forms of suffering manifest in the body, often hidden beneath the surface. Brahim is interested in the unseen body, the extended body and everything in between and how each part plays a role in relating to essential human experiences. For example, in her work ‘Who We Are Out of the Dark’ the artist draws on the theory of epigenetics to explore how we can inherit ancestral hardship and suffering, leading us to carry not only our own burdens but those of them that came before us. This study carries throughout the artwork, from the performance to the resultant cyanotype prints which are articulated through the artist’s gestures and movements, creating a written score of these hidden narratives. In works such as ‘The Dance of the Olive Tree in the Wind’ and ‘Roofless,’ Brahim explores the connection between the body and external forces, from the natural world to the built environment. For her, the body is not “contained by the skin” but “reaches out into the world, merging through perception, interaction and action.” Whilst we affect and reach out into the world, the world reaches back and leaves a mark, a trace, whether hidden or manifested on and within our bodies.
Text by Constance Chester
Biography Sarah Brahim
born 1992 in Riyadh, KSA
Education
2013-2016
Professional Dance/Performance Training, Bachelor of Fine Arts in Contemporary Dance (Hons), London Contemporary Dance School, London, UK
2010-2014
Bachelor of Science pre-med/Community Health Education, Portland State University/Oregon Health Science University, Portland (OR), USA
2006-2013
Professional Dance Training, San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, San Francisco (CA), USA
Exhibitions (selection)
2021
Secrets of the Alidades, Al Balad/Goldmore, Jeddah, KSA
Entanglement At Night, Paragon Art Gallery, Portland (OR), USA
Performance Shubbak Festival, London, UK (SOLO)
Residency Exhibition, Misk Art Foundation, Riyadh, KSA
2020
Durational Portrait, Athr Gallery, Jeddah, KSA
Still Life and Plastic Dreams, Athr Gallery, Jeddah, KSA
Intimate Dimensions, Hafez Gallery, Jeddah, KSA
Drinking Gourd Fellowship Exhibition, Ori Gallery, Portland (OR), USA
Alembic Artist Exhibition, Performance Works NW, Portland (OR), USA
Time Based Art Festival, Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, Portland (OR), USA
2019
Volume 4, Samt, Online Publication/Exhibition, Sharjah, UAE
Studi Aperti, 33 Officina Creativa, Toffia, Italy
Residencies
2021 Artist Residency, Misk Art Institute, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
2020 Alembic Artist Residency, Performance Works NorthWest, Portland (OR), USA
2020 Studio Grant, American Dance Festival, Durham (NC), USA
2020 Professional Development Grant, Regional Arts and Culture Council, Portland (OR), USA
2020 Drinking Gourd Fellowship, Nat Turner Project, Portland (OR), USA
2020 Selected Choreography for Turbulence, The Field, New York (NY), USA
2020 Precipice Fund Grant, Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, Portland (OR), USA
2020 Grant, Oregon Arts Commission, Portland (OR), USA
2019 Artist Program, Samt, online
2019 Studio Residency, American Dance Festival, Durham (NC), USA
2018 Spaceness Art Residency, Sou'wester, Seaview (WA), USA
2018 Choreographic Residency Program, New Expressive Works, Portland (OR), USA
2018 Artist Residency, Sou'wester, Seaview (WA), USA
2018 Artist in Residence, Mother Foucault’s Bookshop, Portland (OR), USA
2018 33 Officina Creativa Artist in Residency Program, Toffia, Italy
Image Credits: Portraits by Mia Krys
Works by Sarah Brahim
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Residue, a
2021 / Photography / 23.5 x 18.5 cm / 9.3 x 7.3 in (framed)
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Residue, c
2021 / Photography / 23.5 x 18.5 cm / 9.3 x 7.3 in (framed)
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Residue, b
2021 / Photography / 23.5 x 18.5 cm / 9.3 x 7.3 in (framed)
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Morphology, a
2021 / Photography / 47 x 34 cm / 18.5 x 13.4 in (framed)
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Morphology, b
2021 / Photography / 47 x 34 cm / 18.5 x 13.4 in (framed)
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Morphology, c
2021 / Photography / 47 x 34 cm / 18.5 x 13.4 in (framed)
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Astral Distances, a
2021 / Photography / 62 x 78 cm / 24.4 x 30.7 in (framed)
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Astral Distances, c
2021 / Photography / 62 x 72 cm / 24.4 x 28.3 in (framed)
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Astral Distances, b
2021 / Photography / 58 x 51 cm / 22.8 x 20.1 in (framed)