Yamina Sekhri

Montreal, Canada

Biography

Yamina Sekhri is a multidisciplinary artist of Algerian origin living and working in Montreal.

She graduated from Concordia University in 2018 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. In 2019, she received the Bourse de la Relève en Arts Imprimés from Atelier Circulaire in Montreal for her project Private Matters (2018–to this day). She is also involved in groups such as the Concordia Queer Print Club and the Technoculture, Art and Games (TAG) Research Centre at Concordia University. She is currently working on a research-creation project at Atelier Circulaire.

Her artistic practice gravitates around different printmaking techniques, drawing and painting. The digital age, feminism, and the individual’s relationship with the environment are recurring themes in her projects.

About the artwork

Private Matters (2018-2019-2020)

Private Matters is a project that began in 2018 while Sekhri was still a student. It consists of printed patterns protected inside envelopes. The artist has always found amusing this “barrier” serving as protection for private information. In reality, she notes, all you have to do is open the envelope to see what’s inside. Thus, she has created a complete set of correspondences to receive confessions and secrets.

The artwork talks about the security and protection of personal data on the Internet. The artist asks: What Google, Facebook and Amazon do with the information given by their users? With her correspondence service, Sekhri offers a guarantee of protection to all participants: “Trust us with your secrets using our highly secure correspondence package exclusively, and we will take excellent care of your privacy (under certain conditions).”

The artwork invites the audience to participate, as the artist offers binding classes.