In this episode of the gallery girl podcast we are joined by Yasmina Hilal, a Lebanese fashion and mixed media photographer and experimental filmmaker. Her work is heavily concentrated on collaging with different mediums and the use of non-conventional objects.

Yasmina has a large following on social media, which she explains has an effect on the way she creates work. “I feel like using Instagram has opened up a platform for me to show more work”, she explains, “It’s kind of like an online portfolio.” Her gallery – Zalfa Halabi – also found her through Instagram. 

Much of her work is photographic in nature, and Yasmina explains that her mother gave her her first camera when she was 15 years old. “It was an analogue camera, so I started with analogue which is a different way of experiencing photography nowadays”, she says, “Ever since I picked up that camera I fell in love and I knew that that’s what I should pursue.” She went on to study experimental film and minoring in photography, allowing her to learn how to animate on 16mm and then decided to animate her photographs and create collages. 

Collage plays a big part in her work. Yasmina usually uses the same images to create these works. “For me an image isn’t necessarily complete when it’s just a photo”, she says, “I see things way more than being just an image, so I like to disfigure and create different patterns and textiles through that.” She goes on to explain that she sees these images as 3-D objects, adding a layer to what one of her followers on Instagram might see. 

Yasmina’s latest show – I See Me in You – which just closed at Zalfa Halabi gallery in Beirut, was dedicated to her mother and grandmother. “I photographed 7 women, including myself, in our mothers or grandmothers’ clothes in their houses to hit on the theme of transgenerational women and to show them how proud we are of them”, she explains. Yasmina’s mother was also a photographer and collage artist and her grandmother used to own a clothing store. “I am my craft because of them”, she says, “This is a very personal subject and I didn’t want to photograph just any one, a lot of them were being photographed for the first time.” The mothers and grandmothers were present at each photoshoot and came to the show too. 

In addition, Yasmina also makes films and creates sculpture. “I’ve been working a lot with resin”, she says, “I created these frames that I took from my grandmother’s house and placed the images inside the resin frame to create a portrait that you would see at any Lebanese grandmother’s house.” 

When it comes to creating her works, Yasmina begins by creating a moodboard and will also collaborate with a make-up artist. She also sometimes works with a hairstylist and a stylist. “I shoot everything on film”, she says, “The reason for that is I want to defy the digital world that we live in. We have so much AI generated art now and I just feel like what’s the use of my hands.” After scanning the work, she prints in the dark room with different types of paper to create collages. “The act of surprise is beautiful”, she says about waiting for the images to develop, “Mistakes come out beautifully and you’re going to make use of them in any way that you can.”

On top of her own artistic practice, she works with fashion brands too. “I really want to incorporate real stories, real people, people that aren’t always necessarily beautiful or like you have the perfect image. I want more than just that”, she says, “It’s very important to me when I collaborate with different designers, I want to see their narrative too.”

Talking about her inspirations, Yasmina cites Nan Goldin and Diane Arbus as well as renaissance artists, Dante Rosetti, Marc Chagall and Lebanese artist Laure Ghorayeb. “I take inspiration with renaissance paintings a lot because of how they pose”, she explains, “The jewelry, the gestures, the hand gestures, the themes.” 

At the moment, Yasmina is experimenting with metalwork and incorporating that into her work. “AI generated art is kind of blurring the lines on what we can make”, she says, “So I’m a bit worried on that end, but at the same time I’m going to stay true to myself and true to my work and stick to that.”

Yasmina will be exhibiting with Hayaty Diaries at Oxo Gallery in London in between 29 November and 4 December