Gem chats to Farah Al Qasimi. While her primary line of inquiry examines postcolonial structures of power, gender and taste in the Gulf Arab states, what galvanises the work is her unique ability to embed meaning into visual aesthetics. Farah describes her aesthetic approach as 'so muchness'. Her frames overflow with a heady mix of print, objects and domestic interiors amplified by the tension between harsh lighting and an acidic colour palette. Together they transport us into her psyche, an intimate imagining of her world.

In this conversation, we talk about her journey, her process and what photography means to her. We talk about her recent exhibition Funhouse at Helena Anrather in New York, it’s genesis and how it speaks to key themes within her practice. We talk about performativity, paying attention to your own sensitivity’s and how they can be guiding principles in making work. We discuss how she uses the world as raw material, rather than a direct subject. In doing this she builds worlds in which geography does not matter in order to access a psychic space that defies language.

Farah Al Qasimi (b.1991, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; lives and works in Brooklyn and Dubai) works in photography, video, and performance. Her work has been featured in exhibitions at Jameel Arts Centre, Dubai; the San Francisco Arts Commission, San Francisco; the CCS Bard Galleries at the Hessel Museum of Art, New York; Helena Anrather, New York; The Third Line, Dubai; The List Visual Arts Center at MIT, Cambridge; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Toronto; and the Houston Center for Photography, Houston.

Follow Farah on Instagram @frequentlyaskedquestion on Instagram and visit https://farahalqasimi.com/ to see her work. Follow Gem @gemfletcher on Instagram. If you've enjoyed this episode PLEASE leave us your feedback and maybe 5 stars if we're worthy in the Apple Podcast store. Thank you for listening to The Messy Truth, we will be back very soon. For all requests, please email [email protected]

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.