Maryam Yousif
b. Baghdad, Iraq
As a child of the Middle-East and an adult of the West, Maryam Yousif’s work reflects hyper geographical and cultural shifts as they vacillate between real and unreal psychologically charged spaces. Yousif unifies symbols and artifacts from her past in conversation with western contemporary aesthetic codes and pop culture hues. Her lines and compositions speak to a sense of childlike naïveté and intuitive decision making, transforming moments of uncertainty into new and beautiful spaces. Her characters reflect innocent caricature, all the while blatantly anxious and rife with uncertainty. The figures in Yousif’s work become symbols of potential in their own right, weaved into the odd language of her objects.
Solo Exhibitions
2014
Thirsty: Topical & Sexual, SUN RAY Gallery, Berkeley, CA
2008
I Won’t Give You Anything You Won’t Be Happy With So I’ll Know it’s in Your Hands, Common Ground Gallery, Windsor, Canada
2007
Everything Is, SoVA Projects, Windsor, Canada
Selected Group Exhibitions
2017
RELAY, CTRL SHFT, Oakland, CA
Young Collectors Club, R/SF projects, San Francisco, CA
Teenage Dream, The San Francisco Inn, San Francisco, California
San Francisco Art Institute Graduate Exhibition, San Francisco, CA
2016
Landfill/Bedrock, Guerrero Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Group Show, Burnt Oak Gallery, Oakland, CA
Call it Home, Naming Gallery, Oakland, CA
Parking Lot Art Fair, San Francisco, CA
Farewell & Goodbye, Ladybug House, San Francisco, CA
2015
Tired Hands, Good Mother Gallery, Oakland, CA
2, Good Mother Gallery, Oakland, CA
Soft Bargain, Good Mother Gallery, Oakland, CA
Parking Lot Art Fair, San Francisco, CA
2014
Accepted, Last Chance Space, Oakland, CA
Orange Skies, House on the Hill, Los Angeles, CA
2012
‘Lectric Collective’s “The Bowerbird Treasury” Exhibit, Zughaus Gallery, Berkeley, CA
2010
Fresh Work, Kala Art Institute, Berkeley, CA
‘Lectric Collective’s “Ekphrastic!” exhibit, Krowswork Gallery, Oakland, CA
Education
2017, Master of Fine Arts, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA
2008, Bachelor of Arts, Honors, Visual Arts & Communications Studies, University of Windsor, Windsor, Canada