For Annila Steimle and Rihab Essayh, like many other Canadians, when what to answer- is the question directed at where they were born, where they spent their formative years or where their family immigrated form?
Rihab Essayh and Annika Steimle, brought together by their common interest in drawing, have worked collectively in both art making and curation. Rihab Essayh and Annika Steimle were both born abroad, but are now living and working in the greater Montreal area where they attend Concordia University. Rihab comes from Casablanca, Morocco and Annika, although born in Switzerland, spent her childhood in Germany. Installation Home represents the fleeting memories of one’s place of origin. When displaced and time passes, the recollection of home becomes alienating like an echo that fades in the distance.
The translucent quality of Home inverts the privacy of the space , upending its perceived association with safety. Suspended several feet above the ground, the cloth structure is predisposed to movement within the space of the gallery. Accompanied with drawing on tarlatan about their relationship displacement, longing for home that may reach beyond a basic desired for safety, however to include the desire for routine belonging and identify formation. Home appears as a ghost of its referent. It contains a window, but no doors- you can look, wonder and desire, but you can never possess it.