Diana Al-Hadid

Juxtaposing western iconography with eastern references, Diana Al-Hadid is recognised for her installation sculptures which intertwines history, place and self. Combining a broad range of materials, Al-Hadid produces multi-layered constructions - towers, labyrinths, pipe organs and stairs which evoke emotions of unrest and unstableness and consequently creates a “quiet catastrophe”. Bridging her two cultures, Al-Hadid intends to explore the lifestyle of ruins from the past and the future and thus in turn gives form to the paradoxical adherence and detachment that she has felt towards both (The Gradual Approach of My Disintegration). Creating architectural sculptures, Al-Hadid creates larger than human scale pieces which inevitably allows one to comfortably observe a 360 degree view of her pieces. Of what Al-Hadid entitles her sculptures as “impossible architecture”, Al- Hadid uses a broad range of interdependent mediums and plays on the reconstruction of materials to re-create an uninhibited scene of ruin. In combination with a variety of materials, Diana Al-Hadid focuses on the concern with the inevitable crumbling of ambitious human constructions (Sculptor Diana Al-Hadid)

Curating Al-Hadid and Hunt will exhibit Diana Al-Hadid’s 2010 sculpture titled “Water Thief” and her 2008 piece titled “Built From Our Tallest Tales”.

Water Thief pays much tribute to her culture, as the piece was inspired by a water clock built in 1206 not far from Al-Hadid’s home town of Aleppo, Syria (About Diana Al-Hadid). Water Thief displays her ability to recreate ruin whilst allowing her sculptures to appear unrefined. Various aspects of the sculpture includes wheels, gears, pipes, channels are created out of unexpected materials of polymer gypsum, fiberglass, steel, polystyrene, plaster and wood. Using unpredictable materials allows Al-Hadid to effectively an effortless combine the sculpture harmoniously together. Whilst this work is absent of Al-Hadid’s accustomed media of utilising geometric shape, the Water Thief is able to embody Al-Hadid’s natural atmosphere of chaos and yet at the same time display a curious sense of beauty. The pale colour palate throughout the installation conjures creativity and a lasting strength which overall allows the viewer to adhere the spiritual innovation and architectural ambitions, affixed with the past.

Built From Our Tallest Tales evokes the Biblical myth of the of the Tower of Babel, to create a visually monumental sculpture. The installation truly displays Al-Hadid’s architectural abilities through her repetition of geometric octagons and wooden structure of metal armour. The use of wood, metal, polystyrene, gypsum polymer, fibreglass plastic, concrete and paint utilises the contemporary construction in conjunction with the honeycomb panels. Therefore, merging both human and natural constructions to portray the unfailing communication needed to accomplish any collective undertaking, which here is imperilled by its own excess (Built from Our Tallest Tales). Built From Our Tallest Tales depicts the Babel myth as it reveals the origin of men through synthesising between east and west.

Diana Al-Hadid has enabled to combine cultures and explicitly tell stories of ruin through her architectural sculptures. Through Al-Hadid's personal aesthetic, she is able to portray her concern for human destruction through her extensive use of materials which cohesively synthesise to allow for her meaning to transpire.