Author | Winter Mendelson
Featured image titled “Metal” 2008
Alma Selimovic is a Philadelphia based artist from Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. She was one of the organizers of the Queer Sarajevo Festival (QSF) in 2008 and was also one of the artists whose work was featured at the opening exhibition. The goal of QSF was to create a public arts event that would showcase the lives of LGBTIQ individuals and give visibility to the process of coming out, rebuilding oneself, and becoming free and strong despite challenging circumstances. Selimovic explains, “it was very important to create such an event, not just as a testament to the LGBTIQ population of BiH, but as a testament to freedom and equality of all citizens. QSF was attacked before it even started. A month before its opening, media started creating a negative build-up. Threats followed. Verbal became physical. A month is a long time to organize a strategy of attack – from hacking our website to following people in the cars and beating them with guns. QSF was attacked on its opening night, and along with it more than a dozen individuals. We created a documentary you can watch on YouTube, if you are interested.”
Selimovic came to the US in 2009 seeking political asylum on Christmas day and has not been back home since. She feels extremely lucky to have had support in starting over, but as “nothing prepares you for a loss, sometimes nothing prepares you for a gain.” Change and transformation have not been easy for her and she relayed it took a very long time to start rebuilding and creating her own direction.
Her inclination for artmaking began very early as a child when she gained inspiration from watching her grandfather create art. She enjoyed the ability to express herself through artistic practice and eventually went on to earn her BFA from the Art Academy in Sarajevo and is now in the midst of MFA studies at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (PAFA).
Selimovic’s work in general derives from her fascination with people. After spending much time exploring the external human form, her interests began to shift to the internal and “how a body is a container or a protective wall of everything we live, overcome, and sustain. It is amazing to see how our bodies can survive so much and hide within numerous stories of pain and suffering as well as happiness. And then, it keeps going and transforming further.”
After starting with clay in her earlier period, Selimovic has since evolved to incorporate mixed media with the use of fiberglass, plaster, metal, foam, and hair. “Most of the time there is no refined idea behind my work,” she explains, “I cut in to the material and that is often the first step toward intuitive space from which I draw inspiration. I am also fascinated with animals and have been rescuing and befriending them for years. One can see bits of them in some of my pieces.”
Currently Selimovic is working on her final thesis show that will be presented the Annual Student Exhibition at PAFA’s museum this coming May 2015. This project will be a multi-figure piece and the biggest one the artist has made to date. After May, the artist will move to the Washington, DC area where she plans on continuing to create work and applying for artist residency arrangements.
For additional information visit www.almaselimovic.com.
