September 15 - October 15th,  2005
Opening Reception September 15th,
4-7pm
 Gallery talks by the artists at 6pm  
             

The USM Art Gallery on the Gorham campus will showcase the work of Assistant  Professor of Printmaking and Drawing Joel Seah and Assistant Professor of Digital Arts Sama Alshaibi. Both Seah and Alshaibi  are new members of the faculty at the USM Art department.   Through through the use of contemporary photography, video and installation practices each of the artists explore identity and displacement as they pertain to national, ethnic, social, and sexual boundaries. 

Multi-media artist Sama Alshaibi was born in Basra, Iraq to a Palestinian mother and Iraqi father. She immigrated to the US in high school and recently has become an American citizen.  Alshaibi earned her  M.F.A. in Media Arts at the University of Colorado at Boulder and  B.A. in Photography at  Columbia College in Chicago, IL.  Alshaibi’s artwork draws from personal experiences with exile and displacement to discuss the balancing of a hybrid West/East identity while still being responsible to her ancestral heritage. Because of Alshaibi's own history of living in a war and under several dictatorships, she is compelled by the historical and current political landscape of nation-states worldwide, and the impact that war, oppression and injustice have on human life. She strives to create art that engages in a dialogue of these experiences and motivates consciousness toward a more informed perspective.

Recent major photography projects by Alshaibi include the series titled Birthright , which focuses on Palestinian Diaspora culture, and Zaman, a poetic recollection of her family's continual migration in search of a home after fleeing the Iraq/Iran war. In addition to installation, metal work, performance and collaborative interactive media projects, Alshaibi has made numerous time-based works, including a documentary titled Where the Birds Fly, in which she chronicles her journey 'back' to her maternal homeland of Palestine. Recent and upcoming exhibitions include Patricia Laligant Gallery, (NY, NY) The Museum of Contemporary Art (Denver, CO), El Centro de Formación de la Cooperación Española (Guatemala), and The International Center of Bethlehem (Palestine).

Joel Seah grew up in a Chinese family in Singapore, where emphasis was placed on occidental thought. His examination of the dichotomies of the Eastern and Western ideals have shaped his outlook both personally and artistically. Seah’s work attempts to redefine, rather than resolve the disparities of identity difference. Seah’s investigations into the construction of identity take the scope of sexual and social politics, heritage, immigration and bicultural dialogue. He explores displacement as it pertains to domesticity, partnership and physical desire, as they relate to ethnicity, self and cultural norms. 

Formally trained as a printmaker, Seah received his Master of Fine Arts from Syracuse University in New York and his Bachelor of Fine Arts from  University of Alabama at Birmingham.  Seah has shown internationally at such venues as The Queensland University of Technology (Australia), The Substation (Singapore), and Lonsdale Gallery (Toronto). His work has been exhibited nationally at numerous locations including  Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts (Alabama), The Everson Museum of Fine Arts (Syracuse, New York), and The Sculpture Center (Cleveland, Ohio).

USM Art student Liz Janes helps Assistant Professor  of Printmaking Joel Seah install a chalkline drawing for  the faculty exhibit titled "Unveiling."

Sama Alshaibi
Olives from Gaza: the bitter dream
Digital archival print
2004
29.5 x 23

Joel Seah
 Brother
 Video projection
 2005