Susan Ossman, Professor of Movements, Places, Movement and Cultural Practices wasn’t looking for a new job when she came across an ad for a unique position at NYU Abu Dhabi.
“When I saw the title, it called to me,” Ossman said. “My research focuses on media, migration, and how mobility shapes people and things. As an artist and a scholar, I cross boundaries of theory and practice in my research, publishing books or developing exhibitions or collaborative programs that take different forms, including publications, events, films, and performances.”
Ossman arrived at NYUAD in the Fall of 2022, bringing together her longstanding interest in anthropology and her drive to create.,
Ossman, the eldest of six girls, was about 10 when she set up her first art studio in the basement. Around the same time, a visit to a public library in Chicago sparked her fascination with evolution, giving her her first glimpse into anthropology. Since then, she has never stopped creating — continuing to make art, conduct research, and publish books.
Painting is her primary practice. She also creates installations using fabrics and utilizing embroidery skills her mother taught her.
“When creating, you’re always discovering,” Ossman said. “You’re investigating the world and your place in it. It’s a dynamic process that is endlessly motivating. Whether you're setting out the shape of a research project, painting, designing a piece of clothing, or writing an article.”
Ideas for projects often come from personal experiences and looking at the differences between the many places she has called home: Chicago, Bay Area, Paris, Casablanca, Rabat, Washington D.C., Houston, London, Southern California, and now, Abu Dhabi.
When Ossman moved from damp, cold London to sunny Riverside, California, she was intrigued by neighbors' curious glances and comments as she hung her laundry out to dry in the hot, dry breeze. What began as a mundane household task soon became the subject of deeper inquiry, inspiring her to create dozens of artworks and ultimately an exhibition titled On the Line.
Ossman’s experience of multiple migrations also led her to new insights on how human migration is understood. In her research, she observed that migration is often treated as a one-time event, rather than a recurring or lifelong experience.
Ossman noted she was “not finding my own experiences and the experiences of friends and people I had met reflected in literature. So, I asked, What happens when an immigrant migrates a second time?”
This question sparked a decade-long research project, a book, and a touring artist-scholar collaboration.
In April, she showcased her artworks alongside those of NYUAD colleagues Ram Natarajan, Andreas Valentin, and Kim Robertson in “Gather Wood, Gather Words” at the Rizq Art Initiative, Abu Dhabi.
In November, Ossman will join NYUAD colleagues Laure Assaf and Anju Mary Paul to give a talk at a conference on Theorizing Transience: Temporary Migrations in the Middle East and Asia-Pacific.
At 65, Ossman remains as energized by discovery as she was at age ten. The thrill of asking new questions and following unexpected lines of inquiry continues to drive her work – the same curiosity that first took root in her childhood. “There is this urge to create and discover. I don’t think you age out of that,” Ossman said.
