Area x, 2014, Oil on canvas, 80 x 80 cm
ArteEast is pleased to present an interview with artist Ruba Salameh as part of our Artist Spotlight.
Ruba Salameh is a visual artist born in Nazareth / Palestine. She obtained both B.A (2006-10) and M.F.A in Fine Arts at Bezalel Academy for Arts and Design in Jerusalem (2012-2014). Her work varies from Painting to Video, photography, and Installations. Through her work, she questions notions of land, geographies, displacement. She worked as a lecturer in the History of Art painting and practical classical painting at the Arab College in Haifa and conducted a short-term workshop at Bezalel academy. Together with curator Fadwa Naamna she has worked on a research film about the Palestinian cultural scene that appeared in Haifa in the years (2018-19), its complex relation to self-organization/autonomy and how it is operating within the constantly changing environment. Ruba is currently focusing on painting and has a solo exhibition, “Tensegrity” at Zawyeh Gallery in Dubai. She is presently in residency in Berlin at BLO ateliers within the program HIER & JETZT: Connections.
Twins, 2020, Acrylic on Linen, 30.7 x 36.8 in / 78 x 93.5 cm
Diner, 2020, Acrylic on Linen, 30.7 x 17.7 in / 78 x 45 cm
Documentation from All too Palestinian installation, 2017
Area x, 2014, Oil on canvas, 80 x 80 cm
Area x (Detail), 2014, Oil on canvas, 80 x 80 cm
Family portrait, 2020, Acrylic on linen, 62 x 102 cm
Tangram, 2020, Acrylic on linen, 111 x 111 cm
Urbahn Blue, 2020, Acrylic on linen, 152 x 197 cm
Urbahn Pink, 2020, acrylic on linen, 146 x 178 cm.
ArteEast: Can you tell us about your work in general and the main themes you return to in your practice?
Ruba Salameh: My work generally deals with notions of displacement, land, nationalism, alienation, and the different ways of representing female identities. Through my art practice, I try to reconstruct the Palestinian subjectivity, by emphasizing the direct connection between Palestinians and their land. Through painting specifically and other mediums, I aim to underline the colonial structures which contributed heavily to the detachment of Palestinian geographies and the establishment of a gap that led to the current realities and conditions Palestinians are experiencing. I am also very interested in exploring the motif of love and narcissism (love of the self, selfie, selfishness) in an age that is highly characterized by individualism. These are motifs that I am currently researching and wish to deal with in my practice.
AE: What and who are some of your influences?
RS: Aesthetically my work is pretty much influenced by the Bauhaus movement and Russian constructivism. After all, I studied in a westernized academy. An important figure who I got to know through her writings is Carla Lonzi, a leading pioneer in Italian feminism. Her ideas have largely opened my eyes and straightened my view of the world we’re living in.
AE: You are currently an Artist in Residence with the HIER & JETZT: Connections residency program. How has this experience affected your practice?
RS: The HIER & JETZT program gave me great support and introduced me to a larger group of artists who share the same concerns. As a new artist in Berlin, H&J provided a safe environment for me to express, share, and get exposed to the bigger art scene in the city.
AE: What are you working on in the studio right now?
RS: I am working on a new series of abstract paintings which I call Algorithms of my head. The series depicts the process of abstraction by the act of repetition that prevails throughout the work of my recent exhibition, following the ways in which abstraction keeps unfolding.
AE: How have you been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic? Have you adjusted your practice to the new realities of self-isolation?
RS: Covid-19 did not change the habit of isolation for me. Artists tend to isolate themselves in their studios to be able to focus on their creative production. It is inherent for the act of creation. However, it did affect the social and psychological state of human beings in general. It did, for me at least, and obviously, for the people around me, make us reconsider how we consume our time and how we consume in general, and how in the end, we can live very well with less.
AE: Once the global pandemic subsides, do you have any shows or projects coming up?
RS: I have some exhibitions coming up that are modified to fit the current situation, mostly group exhibitions, and I am working on new stuff that I will probably show after the pandemic is over.
RUBA SALAMEH ONLINE:
Website: rubasalameh.com
