Rising Stars: Meet Yasmine El-Azzeh

Today we’d like to introduce you to Yasmine El-Azzeh.

Hi Yasmine, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Like everybody, I was born. Unlike everybody, I was born in San Diego, grew up in Saudi Arabia, and am originally Palestinian.

I was drawn to creative writing and performance from a young age (12 to be exact). These interests informed my education, inspiring me to study visual arts and theatre at UCSD. There, I experimented with short films, photography, performance art, and playwriting. Sandwiched between this was a brief stint in London, where I attended a conservatory acting program. Shortly after (yet sandwiched still) were two productions of two plays I wrote.

After graduating, I moved to Los Angeles to begin writing for television, but I ended up working in trailer marketing as a copywriter instead. Somewhere in the middle, I took up stand-up comedy, but my stage time was cut short by my academic pursuits in Paris, France. Upon returning to Los Angeles, I returned to copywriting—but not the entertainment industry. I explored fashion, wellness, and beauty, and I currently work in influencer marketing.

Throughout this entire (short) narrative, I’ve been an active writer and artist. I’ve merged my love and knowledge of both into a body of work I hope will outlive my own (body).

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
While it’s been less than easy, every difficulty that sprouted cultivated my growth. I never knew how to navigate my emotional sensitivity until I delved deeper into my artistic practice. I found self-portraits to be a wonderful medium and the intersection of many mediums I enjoy, namely photography, performance, and writing.

Any trauma I experienced, I transmuted into art. Some triggers I turned into portraits captioned by quips. My captions were just as much a part of the final product as the photos themselves. Other triggers I turned into blog posts with accompanying abstract drawings (another emotional byproduct of mine).

By challenging my challenges with a new perspective and capturing the old with a Nikon, I developed a collection of self-portraits spanning six years and counting. It’s my elevated means of emotional extraction. I’m sure running works just as well—I’ve just never tried it.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m known for my tongue, eye, and mind. My work explores themes of sordid sex, provocative psychology, rotten romance, and hateful love. My visual aesthetic is perfected by imperfections. My literary voice is a strict and stylized stream of consciousness, influenced by my profession as a copywriter. It’s a kind of structured chaos approach. I like to work with raw emotions and refine them through my artistic expression. The resulting pieces can be polarizing. That said, I enjoy breaking the 4th wall and building new perspectives, including my own. I am most proud of my commitment to my creativity.

What matters most to you?
I value critical thinking, creative expression, and the human right to a life worth living. Communication (written or otherwise) can connect disparate parts of the self and the collective. Good communication is expansive—not divisive. It can fuse fragments within us, whether known, imagined, or misunderstood. Great communication does not silence: it validates the voices of all, reinforcing our human right to a life worth living. As such, it is important for me to use the voice I have been gifted as a Palestinian-American artist and writer.

Through my art, I have attempted to capture and shape an identity that eluded even me. To some in the world, I am an animal unworthy of respect. To others, I am the ex-girlfriend who could not be tamed. To me, I am both muse and artist, modulating my expectations and the expectations of others through an ever-evolving lens of self.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://tofuandtartuffe.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fowlowl/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yasmine-el-azzeh-12619364