Lost Childhood
Iraqi Community Gathering for Their Human Rights
Your Soul Buried Deep Inside of Me
Hope for Change 1
Hope for Change 2
Artist Statement: My work looks towards a positive renewal of life through rebirth and social justice issues. I wish to give a voice to those without one and who strive for a better life. I find my motivation is a response toward the ugliness I experienced throughout the Iraq war.
As an artist, my main interests are in representing social injustice, responding to human suffering, and raising awareness about women and children and their struggle in war-torn countries in the Middle-East. My artwork allows me to speak for those who no longer have a voice; children and families who died in the name of Freedom and Liberty during the brutality of the Iraq War. The world is full of discrimination and pain, especially for children who have had no chance to live their childhood, raise families of their own, or share their knowledge and wisdom.
I’m careful while exploring and choosing my materials that will best represent my intention towards an idea. Various mediums such as metal, wood, canvas, and transparent fabric all create different emotional reactions. For example, metal represents the strength and feeling of solidity, the wood expresses nature, wholeness, and human forms, the transparent fabric is delicate and soulful and implies a conflict between war and humanity.
During the war in Iraq, ISIS destroyed the artifacts of my cultural history causing deep pain to me and the Iraqi people. The Iraqi borders were left open without protection and the historical sites were bombed, destroyed, and looted by ISIS. The monument Lamassu symbolizes a supernatural spirit, who served as a protector of the Gates in Nineveh, from 700 BC until it was destroyed in 2015. Museums from around the world heard about this and decided to purchase those looted pieces with the intention of preserving and reconstructing the artifacts. I was inspired by this effort and decided to create a mixed media piece entitled Looted Assyrian Antiquities, which reflects the journey of the artifacts. I strive to bring the imagery and language from those threatened artifacts of antiquities into the 21st century.
I am a survivor of the Iraqi wars and the first 25 years of my life were affected by that traumatic experience. It was a long steady decline of culture, values, and morals due to the wars. People no longer understood the meaning of their lives and the hardship of fear, anxiety, and poverty was overwhelming. As an artist, I look back and wish my life had not almost been destroyed. Now, I need to express hope and light through my art to those who have suffered through war.
One work I created at SAIC was entitled Sweet, Culture, Heals which is a large wooden tray filled with dates, and Kelecha, which I shared with my critique group, an intimate and beautiful aspect of my cultural heritage. The students who experienced my work, Hope for Change 1 & 2 spontaneously lit the candles I had brought and placed them inside the sculpture in a mesmerizing moment of meditation. Candles are a universal language for everyone for hope and change in our lives.
The purpose of my work and my research is to tell a story about history, culture, and daily life in Iraq. This is not only my story but the story of the Iraqi people. As an artist, I’m inspired to draw, paint, and make sculptures that connect and inspire others.
About the artist: Noora Badeen is an Assyrian artist born in Baghdad, Iraq, and moved to Chicago in 2012 as a refugee. She graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2020.
She has had several exhibitions here in Chicago. “Voice of Race” was awarded first place at Oakton Community College in 2015. Another show in Iraq called “Women for Women International” received a special recognition from the Women for Women International Organization in Washington DC. Several of her paintings are permanently on display at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.