Project Space: Samar Hejazi, ‘Geometries of Difference’, 2022. Print details: Samar Hejazi, ‘kenda’, 2021, Palestinian embroidery: cotton thread, cotton fabric, ink, aluminum plate, 20” x 29.75”.
Project Space: Samar Hejazi, ‘Geometries of Difference’, 2022. Print details: Samar Hejazi, ‘kenda’ (detail), 2021, Palestinian embroidery: cotton thread, cotton fabric, ink, aluminum plate, 20” x 29.75”.
Project Space: Samar Hejazi, ‘Geometries of Difference’, 2022. Print details: Samar Hejazi, ‘Untitled’, 2022, fishing line, thread, music wire, steel wire, dimensions variable, approximately: 41” x 29”.
Process shot featuring an intaglio print for the Project Space exhibition: 'Geometries of Difference' by Samar Hejazi, 2022.
Project Space
Geometries of Difference
Samar Hejazi
January 14, 2022 – February 26, 2022
Samar Hejazi uses visual perception, repetition, reflection, light, shadow, multidimensionality and interactivity to question interpretations of structural systems of belief. By emphasizing temporality and transformability based on perspective, she challenges the mind’s inclination and impulse to hold and ascertain meaning. Her use of repetition and multiple focal points allow the viewer to create their own rhythm and movement within their relationship with the artwork.
Geometries of Difference speaks to the internally discontinuous repetition of acts through time that construct the performative role of identification. The works on paper are created from a textile piece embroidered in the traditional Palestinian cross-stitch. The compositions of the artworks are based on the repetition of a single motif from which stitches are intentionally omitted. The breaks in the repetitions created through the transformation of material and technique aim to deceive the viewer; in instances, the ink appears as thread and paper as fabric. Each moment identified by a motif or a print, slightly different from the next, opens the doors to incessantly changing geometries and creates an interplay between the viewer, the illusions and reality.
—
Samar Hejazi is a Toronto-based, multi-disciplinary diaspora-raised artist of Palestinian descent. Hejazi uses her art to question ideas concerning self-identification and social construction.
Since graduating with a BFA in new media from Ryerson University in Toronto, Hejazi has attended Arquetopia instructional residencies in Oaxaca and Puebla in Mexico, and Cusco, Peru. In 2019 she completed a studio residency at MOCA Toronto, which concluded in a group show. In that same year, she was invited to participate in the International Mentorship program at the Arquetopia Foundation.
Hejazi is the recipient of grants from the TAC, the OAC and the CCA, the Art Business Accelerator grant from Artwork Archive, and scholarships to the aforementioned Archetopia residencies. Her artwork has been included in publications, notably the cover of BlackFlash magazine issue 38.3. She has exhibited nationally and internationally, most recently at the Textile Museum of Canada and Warehouse 421 in Abu Dhabi.