Larsa Kena

Larsa Kena

Simele Massacre Monument

My plan is to destroy Iraq's attempts to hide the neglected victims of the Simele Massacre in Duhok, Northern Iraq. I intend to create a monument in remembrance of them. By using the structures that already exist on the abandoned burial site, I redefine the purpose of their existence. I will recreate the communications tower that currently exists there, to inspire Assyrians across the world to communicate, educate, and enlighten the masses about our history, and more importantly, our strong existence. I hope to achieve a revolt against the government's attempts to erase Assyrian heritage, our suffering that occurred in 1933, and such that still occurs today.

Artist Statement

Using abstraction and contemporary methods of artmaking, I display my experience with cultural erasure, the complexities of my interpersonal relationships, and my preservation of collective memory. Within my multi-media paintings and sculptures, I paint my Assyrian identity. I use inspiration from my archival collection of family photos/documents that I’ve tirelessly searched for throughout the world. I draw information from our lyricism in music, and our cultural traditions. I examine the ambiguous relationship I have with my homeland in modern Iraq, and compare it to my westernized environment here in Chicago, IL. I feel a great need to create artwork that presents our memories as evidence. The lack of documentation, and confirmation of existence in Iraq was caused by the exile that was forced among us. Therefore, I treasure my family's experience because it preserved my existence today. I believe our experiences are endlessly beautiful, and I will continually search for ways to best embody them in my artwork.

I flourish in material experimentation. I feel that material is the most important variable in creating art, therefore, I do not limit my ideas to the resources available. Material such as oil paint, steel, culturally enriched resources such as natural dyes, and organic matter all play into my painting and sculpture. My method consists of extracting mediums that define an experience, as I believe the process of creating art relives the memory.

My aspiration is to reside in the minds and hearts of those who are not informed of the suffering that exists in my family, and to reside in those who experienced similar traumas of exile. I want to provoke those who have caused it by enriching my identity in the limitless field of art. I don't want to simply embrace my culture and identity, I want to do it in front of an audience of people, so that I can inform them how one has the power to flourish in any environment they’re forcefully displaced in.

Artist Bio

Having a rich ancestral and cultural background serves as an endless generator for ideas and development of identity. Larsa Kena, (BFA 2022), creates work that examines her interpersonal relationships, as well as the contrasting obscurity and clarity she feels towards her homeland. She is deeply inspired by her Assyrian heritage and the ancestral connection she feels within the world. She touches on her family’s history in Iraq and how it was affected by genocide and years of discrimination. Therefore, Larsa finds immeasurable fulfillment in her practice, seeing that it fights the erasure that she's grown to ultimately face. She discovers new methods of abstraction, using traditional and cultural mediums that display her unique perspective. Determined to exhibit Assyrian art in the modern world, Larsa aims to provoke the ones that try to seize her existence by presenting her identity through painting and sculpture, strengthening it where boundaries never exist.

@larsa