Biography

Lalla Essaydi’s art champions women. Central to the artist’s vision is a unique synthesis of personal and historical catalysts. As a Muslim woman who grew up in Morocco, raised her family in Saudi Arabia, and relocated to France and finally the United States, the artist has profound firsthand perspectives into cross-cultural identity politics. Weaving together a rich roster of culturally embedded materials and practices—including the odalisque form, Arabic calligraphy, henna, textiles, and bullets—she illuminates the narratives that have been associated with Muslim women throughout time and across cultures. By placing Orientalist fantasies of Arab women and Western stereotypes in dialogue with lived realities, Essaydi presents identity as the culmination of these legacies, yet something that also expands beyond culture, iconography, and stereotypes. 

 

The performative act of inscribing women’s bodies and spaces with calligraphy is a vital part of Essaydi’s approach, emphasizing the ongoing, active, and collaborative process of becoming and creating. Since her first major series Converging Territories (2002-4), Essaydi has used henna to envelope the women in her photographs in Arabic calligraphy, a skill she could not learn in school due to her gender. Henna is a form of decoration that marks some of the happiest and most significant moments of a Muslim woman’s life, and Essaydi elevates this tradition—conventionally regarded as a “woman’s craft”—into a radical act of visual and linguistic artistry. The stream-of-consciousness, poetic script includes biographical details relating to the artist’s and models’ experiences as women. Essaydi’s series Les Femmes du Maroc (2005-7) continued to engage with these approaches while expanding to also question the historical representation of Arab women in the Western art canon, referencing the Orientalist imagery of 19th century artists such as Ingres, Delacroix, and Gérôme. Her reinterpretation is a strong statement of the power of artistic representation to influence identity. In her Harem series (2009), set in a lavish yet isolating harem in Morocco, Essaydi addresses the complex social and physical confines of Muslim womanhood. Her most recent series Bullets (2009-14) introduces a new material for the artist, silver and gold bullet casings, which she has woven to create glittering gowns of armor.

 

Essaydi’s work deliberately incorporates and invites perspectives from many angles. “In my art,” Essaydi explains, “I wish to present myself through multiple lenses—as artist, as Moroccan, as traditionalist, as Liberal, as Muslim. In short, I invite the viewer to resist stereotypes.”

 

Essaydi spent her most foundational years living in traditional Muslim society in Morocco and Saudi Arabia. She attended École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris before earning her BFA from Tufts University and MFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, both in Boston. Her work has been exhibited around the world, including at the San Diego Museum of Art, CA; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA; Bahrain National Museum; and Sharjah Calligraphy Biennial, United Arab Emirates. Essaydi’s work is represented in the collections of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, CA; Art Institute of Chicago, IL; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Brooklyn Museum of Art, NY; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA; and the Louvre Museum, Paris, amongst many others. The artist currently lives in Boston and Marrakesh.

Works
  • Lalla Essaydi Bullets Revisited #20, 2013, Woman wearing golden cloak facing golden wall
    Lalla Essaydi
    Bullets Revisited #20, 2013
  • Bullets Revisited #3
    Lalla Essaydi
    Bullets Revisited #3, 2012
  • Woman with henna calligraphy on skin wearing shimmering gold dress made of bullets and holding red rose, by Lalla Essaydi from Bullets Revisited series
    Lalla Essaydi
    Bullets Revisited #47B, 2017
  • Lalla Essaydi, Converging Territories #30 four generations of women wearing traditional clothing in various stylings, fabric inscribed with Arabic calligraphy in henna
    Lalla Essaydi
    Converging Territories #30, 2004
  • Lalla Essaydi, Converging Territories #40, 2004, Figure facing away from camera with stripe of henna calligraphy down the back of her white clothing, facing rectangular swath of henna calligraphy
    Lalla Essaydi
    Converging Territories #40, 2004
  • Lalla Essaydi Converging Territories: Apparel #6, 2003 still life of bouquet of lilies inscribed with Arabic calligraphy in henna
    Lalla Essaydi
    Converging Territories: Apparel #6, 2003
  • Lalla Essaydi, Dancer #10, Woman dancing with swirling fabric
    Lalla Essaydi
    Dancer #10, 2009
  • Lalla Essaydi, Harem #14B, Two women sitting in arched tiled doorway in Moroccan palace
    Lalla Essaydi
    Harem #14B, 2009
  • Woman reclining against tiled and wood wall, by Lalla Essaydi
    Lalla Essaydi
    Harem #2, 2009
  • Lalla Essaydi, Harem Revisited #33, 2012, Reclining woman in brightly colored Moroccan silk fabric
    Lalla Essaydi
    Harem Revisited #33, 2012
  • Lalla Essaydi, Harem Revisited #59, Woman wearing brightly colored silk clothing sitting against silk backdrop
    Lalla Essaydi
    Harem Revisited #59, 2013
  • Lalla Essaydi, Les Femmes du Maroc #1, 2005, Group of four women, three sitting and one standing, wearing clothing inscribed by henna calligraphy
    Lalla Essaydi
    Les Femmes du Maroc #1, 2005
  • Lalla Essaydi, Les Femmes du Maroc: Fumée d'Ambre Gris, Woman in pose reminiscent of subject in Smoke of Ambergris by John Singer Sargent
    Lalla Essaydi
    Les Femmes du Maroc: Fumée d’Ambre Gris, 2008
  • Lalla Essaydi Les Femmes du Maroc: Harem Beauty #2 Woman reclining on divan with henna calligraphy on skin and fabric
    Lalla Essaydi
    Les Femmes du Maroc: Harem Beauty #2, 2008
  • Lalla Essaydi Les Femmes du Maroc two women inscribing henna onto large pile of fabric
    Lalla Essaydi
    Les Femmes du Maroc: Harem Women Writing, 2008
  • Lalla Essaydi Les Femmes du Maroc: La Grande Odalisque, woman posing to imitate subject in Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres' painting La Grande Odalisque, her skin and all fabric inscribed with Arabic calligraphy in henna
    Lalla Essaydi
    Les Femmes du Maroc: La Grande Odalisque, 2008
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