Hissa AlZarooni
My journey towards being an artist has been very experimental, a series of trial and error, seeking my voice, and trying to make sense of my surroundings. I was always fascinated by the idea of perfection, by the effort it takes to create that vessel, and the same effort used to crack through it.
Over time, I discovered that my inspiration comes from people. Memories that revolve around them, the things that they leave behind, and the experiences they go through. I mainly create to document or to express a certain feeling or emotion. However, my current exploration lies in conceptual art.
By trying to develop my practice – and myself – I’m experimenting with the idea of confrontation and calling out the contradicting societal norms that surround us. I’m trying to achieve this by carefully peeling through that layer of “perfection” to expose the inside by capturing people’s experiences – strangers, family members, friends, and my own, and merging them to tell a bigger story about the reality we live in.
My approach towards this concept is very experimental, aiming to execute the narrative within various mediums such as recordings, videos, found objects, and installation. This is what triggered the concept behind my final work, “Your secrets belong at home” – the idea of creating an experience, telling people’s stories and my own, through art is what I’m passionate about the most.
In Your Secret Belongs at Home, Hissa Al Zarooni creates a sound installation that tackles ideas of porosity and familial secrecy. Incorporating male and female voices, this is her lens into what is expressed inside homes through instances of confrontation. Her immersive work gives you the sense that you are hearing something you aren’t supposed to, like listening in on someone’s private conversation – a kind of unintended voyeurism through sound.
A motion sensor is activated when viewers walk into the space and the audio plays, sourced from anonymous recordings that Al Zarooni collected of people’s experiences. The candor of the exchanges is laden with societal norms and taboos in the UAE, unpacking the double lives we lead inside and outside our homes. The sayings reveal shaming practices and other expressions that are normalized and enabled within families, but also a great deal of affection and intimacy.
There is no coherent narrative here and although the work is not visual, there’s explicitness and permeability to it. It is as if Al Zarooni is breaking down the sanctity of the home, and yet by erecting the façade of a house against the exhibition’s wall, she is also creating a barrier to entry.
Hissa AlZarooni is a visual artist from Dubai; While obtaining her BFA in Visual Arts from Zayed University, she worked with many organizations, including Art Dubai, Dubai Design Days, Brand Dubai, Venice Biennale, and the Louvre Abu Dhabi. Since graduation, Hissa's work has been exhibited locally and internationally; her work was published in Harper Bazaar, part of their annual House of Bazaar event, and was shown in Budapest's art fair. Hissa is currently focusing on developing her practice as a part of the Sheikha Salama Emerging Artists Fellowship and will complete the year-long fellowship in November.