bio
Samar Hussaini is a Palestinian fine artist based in New Jersey, known for her captivating artwork that blends various layers of mediums and techniques. She graduated with a BFA in Art History and Studio Arts from the University of Maryland before pursuing a Master's degree in communication design from Pratt Institute in New York.
With a successful career in advertising, Hussaini’s design work earned her multiple awards in advertising including the Silver Award and Gold Award from DTC, as well as Creative Recognition from The One Show RX. Despite her professional success, her passion for fine art remained undiminished and has earned her several fine art awards, including the Innovative Fine Art Award from the Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club in NY.
In 2022, Hussaini achieved international acclaim for her participation in the Venice Biennale collateral group exhibit, "From Palestine with Love," sponsored by the Palestine Museum. Her work has been showcased in several prestigious galleries, museums, group shows, and solo shows around the world.
Today, Hussaini resides and creates her artwork in West Orange, New Jersey, where she continues to explore and push the boundaries of mixed-media fine art painting.
artist statement
As an accomplished and award-winning artist, I am deeply rooted in my heritage and identity as a Palestinian. Through compelling abstract imagery featured across my body of work, which includes painting, sculpture, and ready-to-wear fashion, my multi-disciplinary approach speaks to the ways in which the Palestinian diaspora affects identity.
Along with my mixed media abstract paintings, I am known for contemporizing the thobe, which is a dress that represents Palestinian villages and towns. My sculptural dress-based work reflects on the heritage of Palestinian identity, and by removing the physical body from the dress, I question the impact of displacement on cultural identity.
My artistic practice also merges free-hand embroidery with abstract fine art to provide insight into underlying emotions and thoughts of identity. Traditionally, tatreez, which is Palestinian embroidery, represents regional identity. I contemporize those traditional embroidery patterns to represent the identity of those living in the diaspora. My embroidery designs are created using a sewing machine to free-hand draw on water-soluble fabric, leaving behind the embroidery after the fabric dissolves. This work demonstrates the resilience of identity by tearing apart and using embroidery to stitch back together multimedia-painted layers on canvas or paper.
Art, as a transcendent force, possesses the capacity to bridge divides and foster empathy. I firmly believe that my artistic endeavors contribute to creating a deeper understanding, appreciation, and compassion for my Palestinian people.