Submerged

Medium: Archival inkjet print on Museum Canson 315, Wood Apollo Nielsen Frame
Year: 2023
Dimensions: 80 x 60 cm unframed
Edition: 3 + 2AP
Shipment: Framed

'Submerged’ is a multiple-exposure photograph of a female figure underwater. The work is an attempt to reimagine the transformation of the Adhari Maiden.

The folktale of Adhari tells the story of a young heroine who, upon coming across a man in a palm tree grove, begins to weep, gesturing toward sexual violence. As she weeps, the maiden transforms into an everlasting spring, thus escaping into the spiritual realm. The photograph’s haunting color and tonality echo the melancholy of the tale, while the anamorphic figure recalls a body in a state of flux.

This work, and Alsaie’s practice at large, aims to call into question our relationship with our land and the ideologies that collapse onto it.