Saif Azzuz: Nikichyu ‘ok’w ‘w-ewolek
pt. 2 Gallery is pleased to present Nikichyu ‘ok’w ‘w-ewolek’ ”Everything has a name”, a solo exhibition by Saif Azzuz. For Azzuz’s second solo exhibition with the gallery, the Libyan- Yurok artist expands his practice, incorporating sculpture and wood slabs into his practice. Created amidst a changing physical and social landscape, Azzuz’s latest bodies of work draw on his Yurok tribe’s connection to nature, recognized as a universal human trait. This holistic connection to the land and water extends beyond appreciation for their surroundings, as the Yurok’s long-standing traditions demonstrate deep commitment to the preservation of resources and stewardship of the land they share.
Bordering between landscape, abstract and surrealist compositions, Azzuz shares 13 new large scale paintings. The varying usage of enamel, dye, spray paint and oil manifes in dazzling compositions, at times rendered with loose gestural marks and overlapping colors, while other canvases display marked control, organic forms separated by clean lines of negative space. The thirteen paintings shift between tonality as well as treatments of paint. Transitioning from cool tones to warm and back to cool again, the cycle refers to changing seasons of the year. Azzuz’s Yurok follows the lunar calendar, in which each of the 13 moons refers to a different season.
An integral part of Nikichyu ‘ok’w ‘w-ewolek’ ”Everything has a name” is the exploration of three-dimensional works, as Azzuz begins to use tree stumps and redwood slabs to create sculptures and engravings. Created using scraps from salvage yards, Azzuz breathes new life into the material, rescuing the pieces from destruction or loss. The redwood trees of the Yurok tribe’s native Klamath River Valley stood for hundreds [thousands] of years, the stories of the tribe embedded in the spirit of the trees. When the Yurok tribe’s land was forcefully taken from them, the beloved redwood trees were cut down and sold as timber. By engraving the slabs with the flora, fauna and iconography of his people, Azzuz reclaims these fragments, so the redwoods can once again impart their stories and wisdom.
Azzuz’s canvases and slabs weave together an iconography inspired by landscape, flora and fauna, and Yurok patterns. While specific elements of the iconography may not be decipherable to every viewer, the works nonetheless evoke the essential connection between humanity and nature. For Azzuz, this connection is neither limited to his tribe or native peoples but is a universal trait. Thus the images become more than the symbols that fill the canvas, instead providing emotional responses to the shifting growth of plants and the impact of weather across the year as the land changes throughout the seasons.
In multiple paintings, a deep red and orange tone glow through the canvas. The warmth that emanates from these paintings refers to the new “fire season” that afflicts California on a yearly basis, devastating the land and people’s homes alike. Without the ability to maintain the land through cultural burns as they have had for generations, tribal populations and California at large have suffered the ramifications without the stewardship of the Yurok and other tribes. With the continued rise in wildfires across the state, local organizations now begin to look to native peoples for guidance in a more holistic approach to maintaining land. This act of cultural preservation mirrors the countless movements to revitalize language and preserve ceremonies of dance and story.