Black History Month: Zalika Azim
© Zalika Azim - To transplant in alien soil (far from the promised land both north and south)
Zalika Azim, a New York native photographer, explores mechanisms of personal narrative through her practice of photography, installation, and performance art. Azim’s art utilizes archival works as a frame and material. These elements are showcased throughout her exhibition, in case you should forget to sweep before sunset, which included images with alternating strips of wallpaper behind the frame. In Azim’s own words, “I consider the significance of black domestic spaces to the development of community and the exchange of histories that have been excluded from hierarchical dissemination.” She sets out to juxtapose work that exists within a “state that mines spatial, temporal and ancestral knowledge.”
Azim’s ongoing research covers present day migratory shifts and sparked her interest of entities of the black movement. Her work stems from an idea to imagine and depict intangible elements within the images, often considering the words and stories told by those depicted in Azim’s works. The use of self-authored photo text works, ancestral images and story are imprinted onto physical images through the use of printing press techniques and offer impressions onto images of landscapes. Azim’s work has been exhibited internationally at the International Center of Photography, The Dean Collection and The African American Museum in Philadelphia, to name a few.
You can visit Azim’s website and view more of her work here.
