Maryam Yousif was born in Baghdad, Iraq in 1985 and lives in San Francisco, California. She received a Master of Fine Arts from the San Francisco Art Institute in 2017, and received a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Windsor, Ontario in 2008. Recent solo and two-person exhibitions include ICA San Francisco, CA (2024); Rebecca Camacho Presents, San Francisco, CA (2024); The Pit, Los Angeles / Palm Springs, CA (2023, 2021); David B. Smith, Denver, CO (2022); and Andrew Rafacz, Chicago, IL (2021); amongst others. Yousif’s work has been featured in exhibitions such as Ritual Clay: Cathy Lu, Paz G, Maryam Yousif at Manetti Shrem Museum of Art at UC Davis (2024); GGLA, Los Angeles, CA (2024); Jeffrey Deitch, Los Angeles, CA (2023); Museum of Art & Design, New York, NY (2023); and Massey Klein Gallery, New York, NY (2023); amongst others. She was a finalist for the Museum of Art and Design’s Burke Prize (2021), and completed an AICAD fellowship at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in the Ceramics Department (2019-2021). She received the Fleishhacker Foundation Eureka Fellowship Grant in 2023. Her work can be found in the public collections of the Museum of Art and Design, New York, NY; the Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO; and the Crocker Museum of Art, Sacramento, CA.
The rich tapestry of Yousif's artistic practice is deeply interwoven with her personal history, embodying a vibrant fusion of diverse cultural influences that reflect the hybridity of her lived experience. Rooted in clay, Yousif’s practice embarks on an ongoing exploration of Mesopotamian mythologies, histories, and artifacts, merging these ancient objects with more contemporary references and forms. Through her use of clay, Yousif is able to stretch and collapse time, bridging the ancient and more recent cultures of Iraq with the rich ceramic tradition of her current home in the San Francisco Bay Area.
The "Habibti" series, a term of endearment in Arabic, exemplifies Yousif's ability to imbue her work with both personal and cultural significance. These clay sculptures depict female figures in dresses, drawing inspiration from the ancient Sumerian votive statues that were crafted to intercede with the gods on behalf of worshippers. Yousif reimagines these ancient forms, adorning them with flowers, ruffles, and reeds, and infusing them with a contemporary sensibility, often looking at contemporary fashion for inspiration. Through these works, Yousif creates a bridge between the ancient and the modern, the sacred and the playful, inviting viewers to engage with her art on multiple levels.