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Immigrant Status: Contributions

Artists

Hend Al-Mansour (Saudi Arabia)

"I use the beautiful language of art
for the sake of social change
towards justice, equality and freedom of expression."

I am a Saudi woman artist. My work explores religious and social belief systems, especially those dealing with women, sexuality and understanding the "other." I make art in Arabic by using calligraphy, images of Arab people, Islamic ornamentation and architecture, henna and colorful fabrics. I seek to investigate the status of contemporary Arab art and cultivate its independence from Western art and its distinction from other Middle Eastern and Islamic identities . . . . My work is often a portrait of a woman. I collect information about women who inspire me either by research or by direct interviews.

Al-Mansour makes drawings of stylized figures and faces representing the women from her interviews and integrate them with Islamic ornamentation. She then silkscreens them onto fabrics, often using henna and dye and often repetitively. Using large sheets of silk, wool, canvas, or other cottons, she builds shrines and tents, creating spaces in which the viewer walks barefoot. Archways, cushions, rugs, bowls and geometric sculptures that reflect some of the aspect of the woman's personality are incorporated into the installations.

Born in Hofuf, Saudi Arabia, Al-Mansour graduated with a bachelor's degree in Medicine and Surgery from the Medical College of Cairo University in 1980. She practiced medicine until 1997. She came to the U.S. seeking another home to escape Saudi oppression of women. While in the U.S., she realized her dream of being an artist. She obtained a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design in 2002. She is Associate Director of the Center for Independent Artists, a board member of the Arab American Cultural Institute, and founding member of the Arab Artists in the Twin Cities. "The Three Faces of Mary" (included in Immigrant Status Contributions) was commissioned by Wisdom Ways Center for Spirituality and first displayed in 2003 at the Joan D'Arc Auditorium at the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul, Minnesota.

To view more of Al-Mansour's work, go to http://www.hend-al-mansour.org

Exhibited works:
The Three Faces of Mary (three-dimensional installation)
Al Badr (two-dimensional screen prints)
People of the House [Part of Fatemah In America] (three-dimensional installation)