Azza El Siddique

Azza El Siddique

that which trembles wavers, 2023
exhibition view
Bradley Ertaskiran, Montreal (Canada)
Photo: Paul Litherland
that which trembles wavers, 2023
exhibition view
Bradley Ertaskiran, Montreal (Canada)
Photo: Paul Litherland
that which trembles wavers, 2023
exhibition view
Bradley Ertaskiran, Montreal (Canada)
Photo: Paul Litherland
Dampen the flame; Extinguish the fire, 2022
exhibition view
Helena Anrather, New York (US)
Photo: Sebastian Bach
Dampen the flame; Extinguish the fire, 2022
exhibition view
Helena Anrather, New York (US)
Photo: Sebastian Bach
Forbidden fruit
2023
Porcelain
66.04 x 213.36 x 38.10 cm. (26 x 84 x 15 in.)
Fade into the Sun, 2021
Exhibition view
Museum of Contemporary Art, Toronto (Canada)
Photo: Toni Hafkenscheid. Courtesy Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto
Fade into the Sun, 2021
Exhibition view
Museum of Contemporary Art, Toronto (Canada)
Photo: Toni Hafkenscheid. Courtesy Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto
In the place of annihilation, where all the past was present and returned transformed, 2022
Exhibition view
MIT List Visual Arts Center, Cambridge (US)
Photo: Mel Taing. Courtesy MIT List Visual Arts Center
let me hear you sweat, 2018
Exhibition view
Cooper Cole, Toronto (Canada)
Photo courtesy Cooper Cole Gallery
Measure of One, 2020
Exhibition view
Gardiner Museum, Toronto (Canada)
Photo: Toni Hafkenscheid. Courtesy Gardiner Museum
Measure of One, 2020
Exhibition view
Gardiner Museum, Toronto (Canada)
Photo: Toni Hafkenscheid. Courtesy Gardiner Museum
Solar Evocation, 2022
Exhibition view
Centre Clark, Montreal (Canada)
Photo courtesy Centre Clark
Solar Evocation, 2022
Exhibition view
Centre Clark, Montreal (Canada)
Photo courtesy Centre Clark
Solar Evocation, 2022
Exhibition view
Centre Clark, Montreal (Canada)
Photo courtesy Centre Clark
one must wash the other
2021
Steel
99.7 x 86.4 x 2.5 cm. (39¼ x 34 x 1 in.)
underground storage
2021
Steel
36.2 x 31.8 x 2.5 cm. (14¼ x 12½ x 1 in.)
Opening of the mouth
2023
Steel, black porcelain
50.8 x 30.5 x 7.6 cm. (20 x 12 x 3 in.)
that which trembles wavers, 2023
exhibition view
Bradley Ertaskiran, Montreal (Canada)
Photo: Paul Litherland
that which trembles wavers, 2023
exhibition view
Bradley Ertaskiran, Montreal (Canada)
Photo: Paul Litherland
that which trembles wavers, 2023
exhibition view
Bradley Ertaskiran, Montreal (Canada)
Photo: Paul Litherland
Dampen the flame; Extinguish the fire, 2022
exhibition view
Helena Anrather, New York (US)
Photo: Sebastian Bach
Dampen the flame; Extinguish the fire, 2022
exhibition view
Helena Anrather, New York (US)
Photo: Sebastian Bach
Forbidden fruit
2023
Porcelain
66.04 x 213.36 x 38.10 cm. (26 x 84 x 15 in.)
Fade into the Sun, 2021
Exhibition view
Museum of Contemporary Art, Toronto (Canada)
Photo: Toni Hafkenscheid. Courtesy Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto
Fade into the Sun, 2021
Exhibition view
Museum of Contemporary Art, Toronto (Canada)
Photo: Toni Hafkenscheid. Courtesy Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto
In the place of annihilation, where all the past was present and returned transformed, 2022
Exhibition view
MIT List Visual Arts Center, Cambridge (US)
Photo: Mel Taing. Courtesy MIT List Visual Arts Center
let me hear you sweat, 2018
Exhibition view
Cooper Cole, Toronto (Canada)
Photo courtesy Cooper Cole Gallery
Measure of One, 2020
Exhibition view
Gardiner Museum, Toronto (Canada)
Photo: Toni Hafkenscheid. Courtesy Gardiner Museum
Measure of One, 2020
Exhibition view
Gardiner Museum, Toronto (Canada)
Photo: Toni Hafkenscheid. Courtesy Gardiner Museum
Solar Evocation, 2022
Exhibition view
Centre Clark, Montreal (Canada)
Photo courtesy Centre Clark
Solar Evocation, 2022
Exhibition view
Centre Clark, Montreal (Canada)
Photo courtesy Centre Clark
Solar Evocation, 2022
Exhibition view
Centre Clark, Montreal (Canada)
Photo courtesy Centre Clark
one must wash the other
2021
Steel
99.7 x 86.4 x 2.5 cm. (39¼ x 34 x 1 in.)
underground storage
2021
Steel
36.2 x 31.8 x 2.5 cm. (14¼ x 12½ x 1 in.)
Opening of the mouth
2023
Steel, black porcelain
50.8 x 30.5 x 7.6 cm. (20 x 12 x 3 in.)

Biography

Known for large-scale sculptural environments, multidisciplinary artist Azza El Siddique combines steel and ceramic sculptures with ephemeral matter to explore ritual, mortality, and memorialization. El Siddique’s practice is multi-tiered and open-ended, encompassing site-specific sculpture, wall-mounted steel panels, clay vessels, video, and combinations of these. Her vast architectural installations incorporate custom-engineered water, light, and heat systems to showcase materials and objects in varying states of entropic transformation. Over time, the artist’s elements gradually erode and mutate into unpredictable and evocative states; water droplets oxidize metal sculptures and unfired clay, revealing dynamic rusted surfaces, while heat lamps activate sculptures made of bakhoor, among other complex material transformations. Playing the role of both archeologist and alchemist, El Siddique deploys sensorial elements throughout her work, often drawing from her research into Sudanese perfumery, Nubian and Egyptian histories, Islamic mortuary rituals, and the artist’s recollections of her Sudanese community in Canada.

Azza El Siddique (b. 1984 Khartoum, Sudan) lives and works in New Haven, CT. Recent solo exhibitions have been presented at MIT List Visual Arts Centre (Cambridge), Bradley Ertaskiran (Montreal), Helena Anrather (New York), Cooper Cole (Toronto), and Towards (Toronto), among others. Her work has been included in group exhibitions at MOCA Toronto, Gardiner Museum (Toronto), Oakville Galleries (Toronto), Shin Gallery (New York), and Green Hall Gallery (New Haven). El Siddique received an MFA from Yale University School of Art in 2019 and a BFA from Ontario College of Art and Design University in 2014. She was a Skowhegan resident in 2019 and is a 2022 finalist for the Sobey Art Award, issued by the National Gallery of Canada.

Khartoum, Sudan
1984

New Haven, Connecticut, United States

Exhibitions

Press