Lena Kassicieh - Risolana Artist-in-Residence
Gifts I Didn’t Know were Gifts

Opening reception: Friday, Nov 11, 6-9pm
Closing reception: Friday, Dec 2, 4-6pm

“Gifts I Didn’t Know Were Gifts” is the culmination of work created during Risolana’s inaugural Artist-in-Residence Program. The Risolana residency explores meditations on community, dialogue, and reflection and provides artists with a stipend, access and technical support with the risograph machine, and a dedicated team to see their project come to light.  

Lena Kassicieh is a Palestinian-American anthropologist, ceramicist, and multidisciplinary artist. Having lived between the deserts of New Mexico and Jordan, she completed her Masters of Science degree in Cultural and Social Anthropology at the University of Amsterdam. Her work is multidisciplinary and experimental in its nature, including but not limited to digital illustrations, ceramics, collages, sketchbooks, acrylic paintings, and photographs.

Lena’s risograph book (24pgs - edition of 60) is an ode to the things we inherit from our families; 'gifts we didn't realize were gifts', the meaning we glean from stories, recipes, memories, and tangible items, and the stories they tell. Lena's family was forced to leave their home in Jerusalem, Palestine, and moved to Jordan, eventually settling all around the world in search of new places to make 'home'. This book is the culmination of the collection of all these inherited gifts – tangible and intangible – that piece together what her Palestinian identity means to her.
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Risolana is a community risograph studio located in Albuquerque’s South Valley. We see power in printmaking as a tool for community dialogue where personal and collective expression meet. By providing  hands-on access to and training for this unique printing method, Risolana works to encourage ideas, create engaging work, and cultivate an artmaking space as accessible as the risograph itself. Inspired by the New Mexican concept of la resolana, our resolana is a two-page spread open to the sun.   www.risolana.org

This project is supported by the Fulcrum Fund, a grant program of 516 ARTS made possible by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and the Frederick Hammersley Fund for the Arts at the Albuquerque Community Foundation.