Continuing its commitment to bringing the public exemplary art exhibitions featuring both emerging and established artists, Warburton Galerie, 16 Warburton Avenue, Yonkers, presents I was a Point, I was a Circle, June 25th- August 4th, 2022. This exhibition is the culmination of Haifa Bint-Kadi’s 2021-2022 residency. An opening reception will be held from 6:00-9:00pm on Saturday, June 25th to celebrate the accomplishments of this artist and her tremendously thoughtful and impactful body of work.
Bint-Kadi is a first Generation American, a Palestinian, a daughter of refugees, a Muslim and a mother. Her artwork expresses the exploration of self, displacement, of marginalization, mixed-race heritage and a need for belonging as she seeks to define and embrace her identity.
The shows title is an elegiac ode by Huda Al-Namani which Bint-Kadi discovered during her first year in college. It is a discussion between the Self and the Other, the Individual and Society, the Womb and that which is Birthed from the womb and refers to the many cycles within life and our own lives. The artist says
“To me it represents the constant need to affirm identity without despair. Hope within darkness can defiantly birth renewal and transformation. I Am, despite all circumstances.”
The exhibition features work across a range of media, focusing on painting and sculpture from her What Once Was, Still is and Will Forever Remain Series as well as mosaic work. The artist describes her process in the following way- “My work reflects tension as I use mark-making, layering and repetitive strokes in an abstract expressionistic style to create history on the canvas. I place importance on associations with people, objects, memories and geographical locations that have impacted my identity. These associations become visually represented in my work through the use of cultural elements like ground mica, henna, Turkish coffee, embroidery and found objects, playing on Middle Eastern iconography.
“I find joy in the radical juxtaposition of objects, forms and curious marks. By experimenting with relationships between dissimilar objects such as matchboxes and old photographs, I’ve developed ideas about the use of space in my art. When I compare and contrast these forms, I find a sense of comfort and place. These abstract forms communicate the tensions of finding self, but they also hold an indelible space for my own history as my identity has developed.”
