Diana Al-Hadid’s sculptures and reliefs breathe life into the interwoven narratives of history, architecture, and the female form. Born in Aleppo, Syria, and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Al-Hadid draws upon a complex blend of cultural influences, blending her Syrian heritage with Western artistic traditions. Her work navigates themes of identity, mythology, and temporality, questioning how we perceive and represent history and the feminine. Working with materials like fiberglass, polymer gypsum, plaster, and steel, Al-Hadid creates figures that exist in an in-between state—both monumental and ethereal, balancing delicately between solidity and dissolution.

Through her art, Al-Hadid seeks to capture what she describes as “something that seems improbable,” a sense of gravity-defying form that invites viewers to examine the role of the body, history, and memory in constructing identity. Her figures reflect both resilience and fragility, symbolizing the layers of cultural memory and the shifting boundaries of self.

A Unique Anti-Architectural Vision

While Al-Hadid’s work is deeply engaged with architecture, her approach defies traditional conventions. Aruna D’Souza describes her method as “anti-architectural,” highlighting Al-Hadid’s reliance on intuition and responsiveness over rigid plans or blueprints. This allows her work to evolve naturally, with each piece developing organically as she follows an internal logic. For example, in Delirious Matter (2018), a public installation in Madison Square Park, New York, she created female figures that captured the essence of ancient, timeless archetypes. These forms, suspended between ruin and regeneration, evoke the surreal, fragmented legacies of historical women. Al-Hadid imagines the body as both scaffold and superstructure, using industrial materials like steel and plaster in ways that evoke both permanence and decay.

Using methods inspired by fresco and tapestry, her three-dimensional wall reliefs achieve a unique balance between mass and void, with delicate lines of pigment and controlled drips forming intricate patterns. Al-Hadid describes her panels as “somewhere between fresco and tapestry,” underscoring her process of blending mass and void with a meticulous yet gestural brushwork. Her approach recalls both human-made structures and natural formations, from the swirling folds of fabric to the slow drip of mineral deposits in a cave. This synthesis of nature and craft reflects her exploration of historical female figures as they re-emerge, disappear, and resurface through cultural memory.

Though Al-Hadid is known for making work that is engaged with architecture—imagining the body as a kind of scaffold or superstructure, using materials commonly found on building sites—it is anti-architectural in one crucial way: it is a product of intuition, of responsiveness in the moment, of seeing what’s there and what needs to come next, of having a vision and allowing it to develop according to its own logic.—

Aruna D’Souza

Reinterpreting the Canon: Feminist Themes and Fluid Identities

In her work, Al-Hadid reinterprets canonical forms from European art history, questioning the patriarchal narratives traditionally associated with these works. By weaving together cultural and mythological references, she opens space for feminist themes that highlight the fluidity of identity and the often-overlooked complexity of female figures. Through her use of allegorical and mythological figures, she brings forth archetypal images of women from historical and religious art, ancient manuscripts, and folklore, reshaping them to emphasize resilience, agency, and transformation. Al-Hadid’s sculptures, like those in Delirious Matter, invite viewers to reconsider how history depicts women and to recognize the layers of meaning that can unfold when these figures are viewed through a modern feminist lens.

Her works are not confined to fixed forms or narratives; rather, they emphasize the impermanence and malleability of history. Al-Hadid’s pieces underscore the fluidity of identity across different cultures and eras, often challenging the stability of traditional female figures in art. In her hands, historical female figures are no longer static symbols but dynamic forms that defy categorization, highlighting the plurality of women’s experiences and stories across time.

Her works are not confined to fixed forms or narratives; rather, they emphasize the impermanence and malleability of history. Al-Hadid’s pieces underscore the fluidity of identity across different cultures and eras, often challenging the stability of traditional female figures in art. In her hands, historical female figures are no longer static symbols but dynamic forms that defy categorization, highlighting the plurality of women’s experiences and stories across time.

Archive of Longings: A New Exhibition with the Feminist Art Coalition

Al-Hadid’s latest exhibition, Archive of Longings, presented in collaboration with the Feminist Art Coalition, extends her exploration of women’s agency and the unfinished nature of history. This collection includes 13 sculptural works created between 2010 and 2021, grouped together for the first time in interpretive arrangements that uncover connections between historical, mythological, and biblical female narratives. With this body of work, Al-Hadid examines the “incomplete nature of collective history,” as she puts it, resisting the idea of fixed or singular interpretations.

In Archive of Longings, Al-Hadid draws attention to the power and complexity of female figures in art, underscoring how narratives shift and reshape over time. By layering historical references with modern feminist concerns, she disrupts the patriarchal and colonial framing of female figures, presenting them instead as powerful, evolving symbols of agency and identity. This exhibition, which includes a curatorial essay and an accompanying publication, represents a milestone in Al-Hadid’s career, challenging audiences to look beyond fixed histories and see the enduring impact of women’s stories and symbols across cultures and epochs.

Through this exhibition, Al-Hadid invites us to reimagine history as a tapestry of interconnected stories rather than a fixed narrative. Her works call upon viewers to witness the “ruptures and disruptions” within history, creating a space where past and present, myth and reality, converge in a continually evolving dialogue.