Manal Deeb

        Palestinian-American artist was born in Ramallah, Palestine in 1968, moved to the United States in 1986. Having grown up under Israeli occupation, her childhood witnessed the injustices and the hurts of wars, and that made her sensitive to all issues of injustice that exist in the world.  Her recent work includes images adapted from old pictures of Palestinian places and family photographs taken in the30s and 40s. These works addresses issues of identity and memory, issues that for Manal are so pertinent in recollecting her own Palestinian history. Her goal is to bring her Palestinian heritage to speak across time and places. By incorporating words from the Quran, Manal is trying to capture the wisdom and power of the Quran versus and to communicate its imaginative energy. She uses textured surfaces to convey memory’s persistence and perseverance. In her work Manal use colors are of earth tones - warm shades of yellows, browns, reds, ochre’s; colors of Palestinian memories. Most of the materials Manal uses have a sort of “sacred” value or a close relationship to her Childhood memories; decayed pieces of wood, where she used to play by the fig and almond trees in her childhood, old family pictures and old architectural floor plans of Palestinian homes are major presence in her work.

            Manal has studied studio arts at the University of Illinois, Chicago, and in May 2006, Manal obtained her Bachelor degree in psychology of art from George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia.  Manal has also pursued her Masters degree in Art Education at GMU.