Like her mother, sculptor Maryam Yousif is inspired by a Mesopotamian warrior queen - 48 hills

"In compartmentalized altar-like installations, decorative objects, and stand-alone figurines, Maryam Yousif 's artworks present like artifacts of a forgotten culture reimagined with a modern sensibility. She draws with clay in a natural fusion, and looks to ancient representation to inform the present."

"“I was a kid really, and we were all running wild and free, but I don't take those experiences lightly. They gave me so much confidence and I felt so immensely supported by my peers. Canada was so good to me,” she said."

"Yousif spent the first 10 years of her life in Baghdad. Her family left Iraq in 1995 after a series of wars in the region, followed by imposed sanctions and constraining government policies, urged them to leave the turbulence behind for a life in Canada."

"Other key elements have shaped her creative life, among them seeing Mesopotamian artifacts for the first time at the British Museum in 2018 and taking her fir"

Compartmentalized altar-like installations, decorative objects, and stand-alone figurines present artworks as artifacts of a forgotten culture reimagined with modern sensibility. Clay is used to draw in a natural fusion, and ancient representation informs contemporary form. Early life in Baghdad and later relocation from Iraq to Canada after regional wars, sanctions, and constraining policies shape personal perspective. Visual culture began through a mother’s painter and floral sculptor work displayed throughout the home. Pop music in Arabian and Western forms also influenced expression. Mesopotamian artifacts seen at the British Museum in 2018 further shaped creative direction. Community support in the Bay Area continues to sustain artistic practice.

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