A studio visit with Fatine-Violette Sabiri
The artist won Le Prix Pierre-Ayot at Plural Contemporary Art Fair
It’s intimidating to take photographs in a photographer’s space. But last weekend, that’s exactly what I was doing.
I was invited by the Contemporary Art Galleries Association (AGAC) & Plural Contemporary Art Fair to host a studio visit at Fatine-Violette Sabiri’s studio space—celebrating her solo exhibition at Galerie Eli Kerr. Sabiri was also the 2024 laureate of the Pierre-Ayot Award, given by AGAC in collaboration with the City of Montréal.
This was the first time I’ve done a studio visit with a photographer. I think there’s a false sense that photography exists the moment a photo is taken. Look through the viewfinder, find a composition, click, complete. Through conversations with Sabiri, I realized this couldn’t be further from the truth. The act of taking a photograph is one small part in a photographer’s practice—at least it is for Sabiri. The anticipation and excitement of the moment of capture extend to getting the film developed, archiving, framing, and exhibiting the work. Moments from life imbued with intimacy live on in Sabiri's photographs, and, lucky for us, the viewer.
When I visited her exhibition at Eli Kerr, I found myself looking at the photographs as if they were paintings. In other words, physical objects that pulled me inwards. The grain of the photograph, the careful consideration of the framing, and the moments of expectation in each photograph. The magnetic pull towards the artworks then propelled me outwards, urging me to look at the world unfolding around me with openness. I’m such a fan girl of Sabiri!
The studio visit series I share on Art Forecast are intimate glimpses into an artist's studio. Not their artwork, but the ephemera of life that surrounds it. Zoomed in and curious, these images (not photographs or art, instead a form of photojournalism) from studios feel like such a gift, like an artist is allowing me into the way their mind works. Enjoy—
Artist Bio:
Born in 1994, Fatine-Violette Sabiri is a graduate of Concordia University. In her practice, she uses photography, textiles, and traditional artisanal techniques from which she draws autobiography-tinged stories. Her work has been exhibited in Canada, Morocco, Czechia, and she is represented by Galerie Eli Kerr.