Tyna Awad is an artist who lives and works in Tiohtià:ke (Montreal), an Indigenous territory that has never been ceded. She recognizes the Kanien'kehá:ka Nation as the custodian of the lands and waters on which she lives.

^Biography

A graduate of UQÀM's Bachelor of Visual and Media Arts program, Tyna Awad occasionally works as an assistant to sculptural artists. During her university career, she was involved in her community as a sculpture research assistant (“wood”). Since 2020, she has taken part in a number of group exhibitions, notably at Place des Arts and Galerie de l'UQÀM, followed by a self-organized exhibition at the former École des Beaux-Arts (Montreal). Recently, she organized the duo exhibition Tyna Awad/Ulrick Olivier (Montreal), participated to Faire Papier, a silent auction held by Atelier Retailles (Montreal), and presented her work at Centre Regart (Lévis), an artist-run center for contemporary art, as part of the exhibition Indeterminations.

^Statement

Born into a Lebanese family as well as being part of the LGBTQ+ community, my artistic practice revolves around different media to address issues of identity. I'm also interested in the duality of method and letting go in my creative process. I use painting, papermaking from clothing and documentary video to evoke subjects that are both intimate and universal. Trauma, personal growth, identity and its construction in a patriarchal society, memory and how it affects the present are all themes explored through my experience.  

On the one hand, my practice actively develops around the paradoxical synthesis of method and letting go. To achieve this, I determine certain parameters in advance, then apply myself to paying floating attention to the unforeseen variables and natural, mutable movements that things take on throughout my creative process. This attention, which could be considered a working tool, forces me to observe and adjust to the unfolding of a situation. In other words, I offer myself the possibility and opportunity to readjust my methods in the face of the material and the encounters. In this way, I allow myself to welcome the unexpected as it arises, working with and around it. 

On the other hand, my work raises questions about the common problems faced by certain minorities. My life's journey inspires me to highlight the duality experienced by queer people from conservative communities. In particular, I address the healing of our inner child and the liberation from a cycle of oppression, or how women and queer people approach the question of gender, femininity, sexuality and emancipation in contradiction with a patriarchal society and a childhood where tradition is preached.