What does it mean to long for people you can barely remember? To grieve what is lost while clinging to shifting fragments of memory? My work explores this process, exploring the multidimensional experience of diasporic loss and the beauty in preservation.
It began as a question: How do we process grief that feels deeply personal yet collective? Through layered textures, family photos, and translucent materials, this work holds onto names, faces, and places that diaspora threatens to erase-particularly within the Syrian diaspora. The materials themselves embody fragility, reflecting the tension between decay and preservation. Diasporic longing cannot be neatly put into words. It is dispossession and yearning, the struggle to preserve culture in exile, and love stretched across time and distance. My work does not seek answers but invites reflection on what it means to grapple with what cannot be fully recovered. More than a narrative of grief, it highlights resilience and continuity-a space where absence and memory endure side by side.
Razaan Killawi is a Syrian-American artist and designer from Detroit. Her work explores themes of diaspora and memory, drawing from her experiences growing up as part of the Syrian diaspora and her commitment to cultural preservation. Through her art, she aims to shed light on social and political issues, particularly those impacting the Middle East. Rooted in her background as both an artist and community organizer, Razaan envisions her work as a platform for connection, healing, and advocacy.
