Amal Amer

Amal Amer (b. 1995, Lodi, CA) is a cross-disciplinary artist of Yemeni and Lebanese heritage. Amer is the founder of Diaspora Babes, a podcast and publication for queer artists of color. They are a graduate of Williams College and have been featured in MILLE World and LESTE magazines and in exhibitions in Massachusetts, New York, Paris, and Philadelphia, including the YallaPunk! exhibition at Vox Populi Gallery in 2019. @youcandoithabibi

In their Hayat photo series (2017), Amal Amer explores notions of memory, absence, and longing through the examination of Arab American cultural signifiers. Amer incorporates family photos, strands of hair, real and synthetic flowers, their grandmother’s golden jewelry, a Janbiya (Yemeni dagger), travel and visa documents, and other personal and cultural objects to build a series of complex and intimate portraits from the diaspora. While Hayat is the Arabic word for life, it also references the name of the artist's late aunt who appears in the family photographs.

Artwork captions (from left to right): Amal Amer, Untitled (Hayat II), 2017, Archival inkjet print, 35 x 34 inches. Courtesy of the artist. Amal Amer, Untitled (Hayat III), 2017, Archival inkjet print, 34 x 40 inches. Courtesy of the artist.