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Alltheworkstartswithwritingandendswithwriting.IfeelliketheprocessIuseismorerelatedtopoetrythanpainting.Poetryandpaintinghavealotofsimilaritiessurprisingjuxtapositionsquietpausesandthesensethatasmallgesturecanimplysomethingvast.DahliaElsayedSeptember2013Wordshavelongappearedinvisualarthowevertheearlyusewasveryspecicprimarilytheidenticationsofportraitsubjectsortransmissionofreligiouspassagesandtenets.IntheearlypartofthetwentiethcenturytheCubistsemployedwordsorfragmentsofwordstoreferenceideastoclarifyorobfuscatemeaningandtoemphasizetheconceptualnatureoftheartobject.LatertheDadaistsSurrealistsandModernistscontinuedtheuseoflanguagesometimesasanodtotheliterarysourcesfromwhichsomeofthesemovementsdevelopedandatothertimesasanemphasisorcluetothemeaningofthework.TheSocialRealistsconveyedtheirhumanitariangoalsthroughthecombinationofwordandimagewhilethePopartistsusedlanguagetocreatefamiliarityandevokeirony.Inallthesemovementswordswerenottheprimaryimagery.Howeverbythelate1960slanguagebecamecentraloftentheprincipalimageryinaworkofart.Todaysocietalpoliticalandpersonalissuescontinuetobeexploreddirectlyandindirectlythroughwrittenandspokenlanguageinthevisualarts.DahliaElsayedsworkcontinuesandenhancesthislongtradition.HeracademictrainingBAEnglishBarnardCollege1992MFACreativeWritingColumbiaUniversity1994focusedonwordandmeaningandthatinterestmanifestsitselfclearlyinherpainting.ElsayedsaysofherworkEventhoughtherehavebeensomechangesinmaterialsandscalesImstillalwaysthinkingaboutreadabilityandtryingtodirectthroughaworkwithbeginningmiddleandendpoints.Insomewaysthevisualimageschoicesaboutthehavemoretodowithmappingaperiodoftimethenmappingaspecicplace.Inadditiontowordandphrasesshealsointegratescartographylandscapepaintingpopcultureconceptualarthumorfamilyhistoryandherowninternalandexternalreferences.TheartistnotesNooneinmyfamilyhasbeenbornanddiedinthesameplacegoingback3generations.AndnotjustdifferentcitiesbutondifferentcontinentsAfricaAsiaNorthAmericaandthosemovesweremadeinhasteandunderduress.ThatfamilialnarrativehasformedthewayIthinkaboutgeographicattachmentsthefeelingofbeingfromorofaplaceornoplaceandalsohowpersonalhistoriesnarrativememorytheintangiblestuffattachthemselvestophysicalrelativelyxedlocations.AwareofherpersonalhistorybutlivingverymuchinthemomentElsayedcreatespersonalnarrativeswhichatrstappearenigmaticbutthroughtheiraccessibleimageryandlanguageallowforindividualreactionandinterpretation.MargaretOReillyCuratorofFineArtNewJerseyStateMuseum