Artwork created prior to residency
(Click an image to view slideshow)

Beirut, Lebanon
Residency: August-September 2016 

About the Artist
Dalia Baassiri was born in 1981 in Lebanon where she is based at present. In 2003,she graduated from the Lebanese American University with a bachelor's degree in graphic design and went on to pursue a master's degree in fine art at Chelsea College of Arts in London, where she also took part in various group shows.

As a multidisciplinary artist drawing has been a primary tool of expression, alongside painting and photography. At Galerie Janine Rubeiz, in 2014, she participated in the exhibition “Clin d’oeil” and “Nostalgic Imagery”, an exhibition curated by Baks/Art and her work has been showcased by the gallery at Beirut Art Fair, Art Dubai and Art14. Baasiri's work has been awarded with a prize by Fabriano, Maraya and the Lebanese Web Design Awards. In 2015, she has been selected for a 2 months residency program for emerging Middle-Eastern artists offered by the the Kempinski Young Artist Programme in partnership with the Siena Art Institute. The residency consisted of 3 main stages; conceptualization in Berlin, artwork execution in Siena then back to Berlin for solo exhibition "von Beirut nach Berlin, Dialogue of Spaces" at Kempinski Hotel Bristol. Lately, ArteEast has granted Baassiri a dual 3 months residency program at Residency Unlimited, New York and Sculpture Space, Utica. Her work is permanently exhibited at Galerie Janine Rubeiz.

Artist Statement
Lines are everywhere but we cannot see them. Like cells, they progressively multiply, expand and intertwine, forming endless possibilities of forms. I perceive the world as a giant spherical drawing room inhabited by beings and elements that are constantly in motion. Their impulses push them from one point to another, creating a series of linear paths. Each being or element has a corresponding destination mapped and documented within this drawing. The wave heads to the shore, the cloud accompanies the wind, the plant reaches for the light, and the human chases happiness from one place to another. Accordingly, their existence consists of the sum of their own trajectories, which ultimately shape their fate. In such a context, everything on this planet plays the role of the artist.

I am currently exploring my experience of the world by highlighting the quotidian and overlooked activities such as window cleaning and floor sweeping, and allowing them to infiltrate and shape my practice. The process raises questions concerning my approach and understanding of art. Graphite is the primary medium enabling me to manifest my concerns. I consider it as the mediator between art and the familiar. It plays the role of a conventional drawing tool yet enacts the dust and the dirt of everyday life. Its solubility generates a substantial muddy effect that stimulates my engagement with the surface.