CondemNATION
Curated by Zeinab Saab and Olivia Richardson
About the Artist
Kiki Salem (b. 1995, Al-Bireh, Palestine) is a St. Louis-based multi-hyphenate Artist, Weaver, Designer, Sculptor, Writer, Educator, and Entrepreneur. Through various mediums, with textiles and material studies at the focus, her practice covers topics of escapism, experimental visual pattern development, linguistic hybridization, occidental assimilation, orientalism, and the Palestinian question. Kiki is a member of the Screwed Arts Collective in St. Louis. Her wearable collection, Punk Ass Arab (@punk_ass_arab) can be found on Instagram.
Artist:
Exhibition
CondemNATION
Artist Statement
My work is an amalgamation of formulas and rituals incorporating ancestral technical processes and inquiry based experimentation. I create works that combine historical, textile and architectural elements and patterns from Palestine using traditional, alternative and dauntingly familiar materials. Through color and material studies, the works I create form a polarizing visual—both whimsical and brutal. My practice allows me to honor inherited crafts while intentionally distorting them into something undone.
Martyr’s Crown
9mm Brass bullet shells, fishing line, acrylic, aerosol on canvas; 30” x 30”; 2023
FREE PALESTINE
Aerosol and acrylic on concrete, 20’ x 16’, 2023
Made during Paint Louis in St. Louis, MO, Dedicated to Ahmad Manasra
Molten no. 2 & 3
Acrylic, Aerosol, Oil on Canvas, 8’ x 8’
Sky Splitter no.2
Acrylic on Bedouin tent cloth, 10” x 10”, 2023
Beitlahem Moon
Acrylic on concrete, 10’ x 7’, 2022
Made in Beitin, Palestine at the Womens’ Center.
اذكر الله – Ithkir Allah – Remember God
Razor wire, steel, Astroturf, aerosol, acrylic; 28” x 40”; 2022
The Prey Where We Pray
Caution tape, tassel Trimming, lino print; 28” x 40”; 2020
Revolution Until Victory
Printed and embroidered mesh, 17’ x 9’, 2020
Made in collaboration with PSA STL
The Silver Lining We Don’t Need
Razor wire, steel, aluminum, mixed fiber, tufted acrylic, metal detectors; 2020
Teta
Digital Animation, 2019
Made for PunkAssArab