HELA LAMINE

Hela Lamine, born in 1984 in Tunis, lives and works in Tunis. She graduated from the Institut des Beaux-Arts de Tunis and the University Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne. She currently teaches at the Higher Institute of Fine Arts of Sousse.

Trained as a printmaker, drawing—which traditionally forms the foundation of a print—occupies a central place in her work. Never taken for granted but constantly questioned, Hela Lamine investigates its technical and historical evolution and, above all, its place "in the age of mechanical reproducibility." She explores notions of "aura," the "sacred," the confrontation between the "unique" and the "multiple," the "original" and the "reproducible," and the "consumable," evolving into a linear voracity that, over time, takes the form of stackable layers resembling sedimentary strata.

For her solo exhibition *The Unsecret Life of Samantha. C*, Hela Lamine conducted a unique year-and-a-half experiment, secretly following the posts of a randomly chosen Samantha on Facebook and working with all the legally accessible digital data. She focused mainly on publicly visible photographs of Samantha, her friends, and family. In 2015, she exhibited over 100 graphic works, including paintings, drawings, and mixed media, all exploring the “non-secret” life of Samantha C.

Since 2010, food has held a special place in her research. Initially the subject of her thesis, it gradually evolved into an annual engagement with the viewer, questioning “taboo” eating practices and imagining "cannibal feasts," "invitations to anthropophagic halal gluttony," "body politicians" as amuse-bouches, main courses to resist, and desserts where one might taste the ears of a corrupt judge...



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