Angelo State University to Host Free Art Exhibit

SAN ANGELO – Angelo State University will present a free public exhibit of paintings and sculptures by Texas-based artist Lahib Jaddo, a former instructor at Texas Tech University, starting Monday, Aug. 22, in the Carr Education-Fine Arts (EFA) Building, 2602 Dena Drive.

Titled "Gathering," Jaddo's exhibit will be on display in the Carr EFA Building's Gallery 193 and will be open for free public viewing on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Sept. 30.

An Iraqi-born artist based in Texas, Jaddo has worked across the mediums of painting and sculpture for over three decades. She was born in Baghdad in 1955 to Turkmeni parents from Kirkuk and Tel-Afar. The first of five siblings, she spent her formative years in Iraq and Lebanon before immigrating to the U.S. in 1976, eventually settling in Lubbock, where she earned Master of Architecture and Master of Fine Arts degrees at Texas Tech. She began her studio practice in 1990 and went on to teach for 20 years in the College of Architecture at Texas Tech. Her work initially focused on painting, but gradually shifted to mixed media and sculpture. She has exhibited her work nationally and internationally and is the subject of the award-winning feature-length film, "Jaddoland."

"I come from a small ethnic minority in north Iraq known as the Turkmen," Jaddo said. "Over my lifetime, much of this community - including my parents, aunts, uncles, elders, siblings and cousins - has dispersed across the globe. My work emerges out of this desire to remember, preserve and honor the culture that I belong to and that I love."

"Remembering the women in my family is at the center of this work," she added. "I draw from my memories of their movements, language and clothing. I tell stories about their lives. Some of these stories reimagine the past, others dream of a future. Through painting, I remember the landscapes that held us. Through sculpture and abstraction, their bodies take on new and inspiring forms. Ultimately, I created these works to give me a sense of peace and inspiration in a world that seems currently difficult."

More details and samples of Jaddo's work are available on her website at lahibjaddo.com.