Myriam Omar Awadi

Embroidering, stitching and unpicking, as if one were doing nothing: these are the types of “non-actions” or “counter-actions” that make up Myriam Omar Awadi’s work. Using writing, drawing, images and performance, the artist weaves the fabric of ordinary romances “of which nothing is left but embellishments”. Esthétique de la broderie, (IN)ACTES and Paroles Paroles are bodies of work designed as research and creative laboratories in which language and silences, and bodies and absences become concrete materials and subjects for potential narratives. As the artist uncoils the thread of whatever resists in her gestures, in the object or in the depiction, a motif appears in the background: a blue flower, like a eulogy of nothingness, a symbol of hidden desire. The flower gradually makes way for the sequin, which reflects the light in the deserted space and adorns the night to make it shine. Myriam Omar Awadi’s work questions the ways in which we inhabit empty spaces by taking apart the spectacle, getting rid of what fascinates us in favour of what stings, and attacking the world… with a love song.

Leïla Quillacq, excerpt from a text and interview with the artist, for documents d’artistes La Réunion, 2020.