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Yael Zaken's Page
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"Yael, welcome to b-uncut - the network for artists by artists. We look forward to seeing you load more and rate artworks, post blogs, join Forum discussions and more. Read the 'Notes' (right column - home page) for tips on using the…"
Profile Information
- About Me:
- I am an Israeli/ American artist. Although born in The US I have spent the majortiy of my life living in Israel. My father is from norther Iraq, a Kurd, and my mother is an American.
As of know I am studying at the San Francisco Art Institute in California. I am working towards an MFA in photography.
- About My Art:
- Being of bi-cultural background I search for areas within my world that have been physically or emotionally imprisoning but also exist as havens. These areas express the tension between east and west. I document the moments when I, a westerner and a woman, experience the suffocation yet reassurance of my father's middle eastern culture.
How may one protect themselves from aspects of their own culture and identity that may be imprisoning yet comfort and protect?
When does protection cease to be an expression of security and begin to contain or imprison? I investigate areas that signify captivity but also act as refuge.
I linger in my father's scrap metal, I dip in the Mikva—a jewish purification right—he built so many years ago in Oakland. Within these areas my presence begins as a body, a being. I change, transforming into an object. At times the images I create appear fantastical, even unnatural. Almost as if the body needs to be released. At other moments my presence blends into the area, reveling in its refuge.
My work is an acknowledgement of failure. The photographs attempt to define the prison/refuge of my cultural identity, but how can one be freed when it is not clear whether he or she is captive?
- Studied? Exhibitions?
- San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, California. Masters of Fine Arts, Photography. September 2009. To be completed in 2011.Still Light Gallery, San Francisco California, September, 2009
- Favorite Music:
- Electronic middle eastern. Balkan Beat Box.
- Favorite Artists:
- Sally Man, Diane Arbus, Sophie Calle, Pesi Girsch.
Comment Wall (2 comments)
- At 6:05am on February 6, 2010,
Amy Kassen said… - Yael, your work is fantastic.
- At 3:34am on February 6, 2010,
Philip Letts said…
- Yael, welcome to b-uncut - the network for artists by artists. We look forward to seeing you load more and rate artworks, post blogs, join Forum discussions and more. Read the 'Notes' (right column - home page) for tips on using the site.
Dive in and enjoy.
And don't let anything stop you expressing your art.
SEND MY PITCH
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