Ammanda Seelye Salzman

Ammanda Seelye Salzman produces mixed media paintings, photo collages, and installations inspired by her American family’s history in the Middle East, and her own experiences growing up in the region. In her words: “Growing up in the Middle East… brought an extraordinarily beautiful vision to me in the architecture, in the ancient history, in the culture, beautiful carpets or even in carvings. I will always be influenced by it because I feel it’s in my blood!” Concentrating primarily on paintings, she focused, in her earlier compositions, on nudes, portraiture, and scenes reflecting her observations of North African culture. In later works, she has moved towards abstraction, filling her canvases with richly colored geometric patterns inspired by what she describes as “the mysterious beauty of the mashrabiya, a type of Islamic oriel window enclosed with ornate carved wood latticework.”