Lena Kassicieh

b. 1989, Palestine

Lena Kassicieh is a Palestinian-American ceramicist, photographer and mixed-media artist currently based in Dubai, UAE.
Having lived between the deserts of New Mexico and Jordan, she completed her masters of science degree in cultural and social anthropology at the University of Amsterdam. Her work is multidisciplinary and experimental in its nature, including illustrations, ceramics, collages, sketchbooks, acrylic paintings and photographs.

Her works, though colourful and bright, are often inspired by the many banalities of everyday life; laundry hanging out to dry in arid summer air, cotton candy being sold at a stop light, a dog's tongue lapping outside the open car window.
Throughout the various mediums in which she works, elements of her interests in anthropology and the psychology of human activity emerge; her work often observes the melancholy found in daily life, and the impact of globalization on design and advertisements. Her collage work and ceramics combine texture and a distinct colour palette to instill a sense of whimsy and curiosity. Themes like nostalgia, the strangeness of dreams, and abandonment are common throughout her work.