Artist Interview Series: Linda Dounia Rebeiz

18 Feb 2025

Part of an ongoing series of interviews delving into the artists, designers and thinkers & doers of our time.

1. Where are you based and how is it shaping you?

I am based in Dakar, where I grew up. I traveled abroad as a teenager for school and didn’t get the urge to come until I became an artist. It felt like I needed to be home to make work that meant something. I followed that instinct and set up my studio in the heart of downtown Dakar, where I could hear the traffic, smell the breakfast sandwich stalls, see the brutalist buildings on my way to and from work. All of my work is grounded in what I see or don’t see everyday as I navigate the quiet chaos of my city. It’s a beautiful and messy place, that has somehow managed to retain a distinct cultural identity through the changes of regimes and despite the incessant pressure of globalization. It keeps itself hidden, which I think is part of how it can remain so strongly itself. You won’t find much of what’s interesting about it online. You have to be here in person and interact with people from here to experience it. Even then, every local has a distinct experience of the city – in many ways, it’s a city that conceals many cities. I am still discovering so much of these sub-identities myself, and these discoveries lead to new bodies of work.

2. Which book is on your bedside table?

I just started God Emperor of Dune for the first time, which is the next book in the Dune sequel (Frank Herbert). I love sci-fi. For work, I am reading Goodbye World! Looking at Art in the Digital Age (Omar Kholeif). I am also reading essays from On Labour (Archive Books).

3. What social accounts do you keep returning back to?

I am a passive user of social media. After a 3-year hiatus, I came back because I needed profiles for my art career. I try to post when I can but I don’t linger. I don’t like my brain when I am on social media in a serious way. It’s fuzzy. I have trouble focusing, and I become inward facing – questioning my life, career, body, etc. The dopamine hits aren’t worth the trouble for me. I do like blogs though – I  enjoy reading Default Friend, Metalabel, The Future, Now and Then, and "C"ON"VER"S"E".

4. Favourite piece of art?

I feel like this changes often, but at the moment, some of my obsessions are: Khyati’s Trehan’s AI experiments, whatever Tanger Print Club or Cancan press publishes, Togoeye’s photography, Selly Raby Kane’s latest collection, and Ismael Medina Manzano’s irreverent spaces.

5. What song have you got on repeat?

Any song from Rachel Chinouriri’s What A Devastating Turn Of Events. I usually like to listen to whole projects while painting or drawing. Lately, her project has accompanied me on 3 paintings already. It’s definitely on repeat. 

6. The biggest life lesson you have learnt?

There are many but the first that comes to mind is a conversation I had on the phone with my dad when I was curled up in my college bed in winter, depressed, after a few days of not eating or leaving my room. Not many words were exchanged but he might have heard in my voice that I wasn’t feeling like myself and told me “just come home”. Now, everytime I feel far from myself, disconnected, or without grounding, I follow my dad’s voice telling me to come home. It always works. I always heal.

7. One person that inspires you?

My grandmother is my biggest inspiration. I feel incredibly lucky that she raised me and cared for me growing up. She was tall, ran her own business, wore her hair short, and rocked pants and shorts when it was not allowed for women. She even dyed her hair red sometimes. What you saw and heard with my grandmother was always her truth. She was herself in every space and with everyone. She always looked people right in the eye (or sometimes looked through them if they were shady). Integrity and authenticity is hard to maintain, especially in the digital age when it’s so easy to exist through personas and avatars. She inspires me to always be myself, which I think makes me a better artist. I remember to shut off the noise and focus on making what I like and care about, even if it’s not trendy.

8. Do you have anything exciting you’re currently working on?

Right now, I am experimenting with physicals – I am working on a large print installation from my Once Upon A Garden body of work, and a collection of rugs from algorithmic outputs playing with the staircase from my childhood home. I have an exhibition coming up in Paris at the Jeu de Paume museum. It’s titled “Le Monde Selon l’IA” and is an extensive survey of the origins of AI art. It’s surreal to have my work included in this show with people like Kate Crawford or Trevor Paglen who’ve inspired so much of my journey into AI. I will be presenting a series of prints from a custom model titled Tongues that explores and expands on my asemic writing practice. 

9. Next place on your travel wish list?

I am dying to visit Japan. I have been nerding out over surimono and would love the chance to learn woodblock printing in Japan. I love how Japanese design opens up to the world while retaining so much of its core traditions. It’s something I hope to do with my own practice. Also, I would totally be going for the food.

10. What do you think about the state of advertising?

I have an aggressive ad-blocker on my devices so it’s safe to say that I don’t like being bombarded with ads online, which seems to be a prerequisite for being online. The profit model for most of the internet is still ads, so while I get it, I still don’t like it. I will say though, that advertisement is learning and getting more tasteful. I was a designer before I became an artist so I can appreciate a good brand that’s got a strong design core and is hyperfocused on its intended audience (to the point of opacity for people outside that audience sometimes). I think a lot of the brands I personally like/use do that. 

To see more of Linda's work check out her Instagram.