Raya Kassisieh
About
Raya Kassisieh’s practice captures the dynamism between her ever-evolving interest in materials and delving into the personal to challenge the contemporary. She explores the politics of the body through a multidisciplinary approach, presenting a deeply personal interrogation of form. Each series of works develops a unique visual language, with the making process itself becoming a central theme.
With a background in textiles and pattern-making, her knowledge of working with soft materials has translated into new sculptural mediums, most recently steel. She sees the process of making as hidden performance that imbues life into the works. Whether working with metal, soft materials, mark-making, or manipulating technology, each piece is distilled through the personal.
Based between London and Amman, Kassisieh draws from her Palestinian heritage and upbringing in Jordan. The personal acts as a sieve, charging the work to confront, grieve, mourn, sharpen, and connect. She often turns to her grandmother’s photographic archive as an intimate beginning, considering personal, collective, and imagined memories that touch on multitudes of grief.
Kassisieh draws, paints, arranges, performs, sculpts, welds, and drapes, using the body as the ultimate tool for reimagination and creation. This approach articulates silent dialogues on autonomy and identity, confronting the muted democracies of social constructs and turning her work into an arena for the renegotiation of being.
Born in 1991, Raya studied at Pratt Institute in New York where she began her career. 10 years later, she relocated to Dubai to further her inquiry both personal and professional. She completed her MA in Sculpture at Royal College of Art in 2024.
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