Assyrian Irish artist Esther Elia constructs contemporary diasporic visions of ancient legacies through an ever-evolving array of media.
Albuquerque, New Mexico | estherestheresther.com | @malikta.esther
Esther Elia’s work—which includes large and small sculptures, ceramics, functional lamps, paintings, and more—is rooted in her identity as an Assyrian and Irish artist living and working in the American West. Documenting her culture’s movement through space and time, the work materializes all-too-often forgotten histories with a penetrating style that is all Elia’s own.
Elia has made it her work to look deeply into the past to evoke an ancient kingdom, enunciating how its people have been dispersed across modern maps. In ancient times, Assyria was a major power in the Middle East with a kingdom that stretched across parts of Northern Iraq, Turkey, Syria, and Iran. After years of persecution and displacement beginning in the 19th century and continuing into the early 2000s, Assyrian people today are distributed across the globe. Elia’s art becomes a potent concentration of ideas and memories by exploring the Assyrian diasporic identity, as well as how history is preserved and how culture evolves. Take, for example, her bodybuilder series, wherein she envisions “the grandchildren” of ancient Assyrian deities as new goddesses. Clad in high heels with biceps bulging, forged in Mexican tiles and acrylic paint representing how Assyrians have made their homes in new places, they are images of strength and perseverance.
In addition to studio work, Elia’s practice builds bridges across cultures and practices. In 2023, she organized a project called Native Soil, bringing Native American potters to the Assyrian village of Bebedeh to exchange traditional clay harvesting and working methods, creating space for conversation and creation. In direct dialogue with the land itself, the project illuminated the power of people working in their native homelands, and how a strong connection to these lands supports and sustains human beings through time. Elia’s work—in and outside of the gallery—offers new perspectives on the power of place, and how it is tied to all things.
