Respectively born in 1977 and 1965, the French-Moroccan artist Yasmina Alaoui, and the Chilean photographer Marco Guerra form a couple in life as well as in art. Yasmina Alaoui studied drawing and sculpture at the At- eliers du Carroussel in Paris, and immersed herself for 10 years in the cultural richness of the French city. She also earned a B.A. of Fine Arts from William and Mary College in Williamsburg, Virginia.
Read MoreMarco Guerra, New York-based fashion photographer, is widely known in the fashion world. He has photographed for such names as Conde Nast Traveller, Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Levi's, Bergdorf Goodman and Ralph Lauren. Simultaneously he develops his own projects in film and photography.
Yasmina Alaoui and Marco Guerra mix old and new techniques together to create life-size body portraits that are mysteriously beautiful. In the series they call 1001 Dreams, Guerra first photographs their nude subjects in black and white either with film or Polaroid. Next, Alaoui draws the complex Henna-like patterns, by hand, mostly with pen and ink and with some watercolor. She incorporates textures such as parchment, leaves, and dried insect wings. Finally, it's all carefully layered together.
"We both come from warmhearted cultures (Morocco/Chile) and wanted to reflect this in our art. We wanted to create something beautiful, comforting, appealing, that made references to old masters of painting and photography, but yet making it contemporary by creating visuals that were new, unique and different. We were also inspired by the magical surrealism of the 1001 Nights, and the beauty and sensuality of their stories."
