Artist Statement – Since 2013, I have been working on a series I call ID# examining the construct of identity, its elasticity and tensions that simultaneously stretch, while holding together our social fabric in the fast-paced stream of information. The latest strings series on wood stretchers explore composition studies on the geometry of interaction reflecting on the multiple levels of interconnectedness of individuals and networks and subsequently inspire the large-scale site-specific installation developed with the public. This body of work pursues universal questions regarding our relationship to the quality of energy reflected in a democratic system of creative exchange while exploring the interdependence between body, identity, and environment and will inform the Glean residency. Public participatory will be encouraged to creatively interact in the compositional stages opening the project to an unusual immersive, dynamic and tactile social experience that reconnects the mind and the body.
Glean represents a unique platform of study to continue my multimedia works combining found art, textile sculpture, photography, printing and painting to create visually and complex, profound images reflecting on our human condition.
Bio – Born in France from Algerian descent and living and working between Portland Oregon and California, Latifa Medjdoub is a visual artist and social art practitioner whose work is conceived with a gesamtkunstwerk approach through its synthesis of sculpture, painting, photography, installation and performance art often using textile art as a central mode of communication.
Since 2013, she has developed social art projects which powerfully transcend cultural divides, placing the public in an active self-reflective and meditative mode of dialogue within metatheatrical concepts in order to engage awareness. Her extensive experience in the diverse fields of performance and design among outstanding international artists allowed her to study the social behavior in the expression of acting and to conceive elaborate and intricate artistic tools stimulating creative social interactions, communication and social transformation. Medjdoub’s recent work focuses on the question of identity and social construction, a study she calls ID, captivating a psychological portrait of modern societies in the fast-paced stream of information.
Latifa Medjdoub has developed and adapted original and collaborative workshops and public practice with diverse communities including at the French American International School, the Alonzo King Lines Ballet or at the Museum of Performance and Design in San Francisco. She has been a visiting artist at universities and high schools, and lectured in major institutions such as the De Young Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco. Her work has been shown internationally in Museums, galleries, including the Museum of Art and Industry, in France; Cheongju Art Center in Korea; De Cordova Museum, MA; Santa Fe Art institute, NM; National Building Museum, DC; Blue Star Contemporary Art Museum, TX and at The Old Mint in San Francisco CA. Medjdoub’s work can be found in private collections internationally including in Los Angeles, Washington, New York, San Francisco, London and Paris.
Art Exhibition: Friday, August 4