The Video Art of Sylvia Safdie by Eric Lewis and “Amzrou/Morocco” at Joyce Yahouda Gallery

2013, Celina Jeffery, Border Crossings, Vol. 32, No. 4. 

For [Eric Lewis], [Sylvia Safdie]'s consideration of breath also marks an historical convergence point for addressing personal history within broader "signal events of modern Jewish history." Safdie, a Lebanese Jew of Syrian descent, began her frequent visits to Morocco in 1981, culminating in the filming of a body of work in 2009 concerning the historical spaces of Jewish life in the southern region of the country. A series of works located in an abandoned synagogue form a major component of her videography and is the basis of the exhibition "Amzrou / Morocco" at the Joyce Yahouda Gallery.

In his book, Lewis argues that the earlier light installations move seamlessly into video works, in which "light, reflection and refraction" interplay with temporality, while the earthy layering of her paintings also transfers to the highly layered, yet naturalistic appearance of her video. In "Amzrou," this is in full manifestation as an eloquent articulation of space which encloses the delicate textures, infractions of light, subtle sounds or silence to be experienced with consideration. "Amzrou" creates a highly visceral meditation on ruins and the territories of displacement but does so through a unique exploration of contemplation, reverie and wonder.