Teya Rose Saadeh

Artist

Paint
Leather
Photo

Christian-Palestinian/Irish artist based in Austin, Texas

Currently studying Cowboy Bootmaking at Texas Traditions Boots under Lee Miller.
Member of Viva Palestina Orchestra.
Organizer of ATX Events for Palestine.

My family has little to no photographs of their lives in Palestine. I cannot know what our family orchard looked like at the time it was sold, or the house they grew up in, or the churches my great grandfather built. Their daily lives are a visual mystery to me. I often find myself daydreaming of the stories I am told, and imagining what living in those moments looked like. In a way, I am making up for our familys lack of photographs through my art. My pieces are a crude and mythicized representation of reality; they hold the meaning I have imposed on someone else’s memory.

Sketch: Story of a Boy and a Tank

Florals Under The Skin

Animal Kingdom: Part One

Oil on wood panel

My series Animal Kingdom touches on the truth that Palestinians are not Human under the Israeli eye. It is inspired by one example of dehumanizing media produced and spread by the world over.

This piece depicts a lion photographed at the Khan Younis Zoo in Gaza cerca 2016. Israel lay siege on Gaza which killed thousands through famine. A majority of the animals died and the zoo was dubbed the “worst zoo in the world.” This was a gross misconstruction over the plight of Palestinians by painting them as monsters for “allowing” these animals to suffer the same fate they themselves faced. It is clear that animal lives are a priority over Palestinian lives in the eyes of the Israeli Occupation.

© Teya Saadeh

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