Hold is a video work part of One, Two, Three, Four, an ongoing compilation of found footage of international sporting events, manipulated to shift the focus to the fragmentary gestures of the body. Hold concentrates on minimal movement, or lack of action. When repeated, these minuscule motions are highlighted, developing a rhythm of their own. In this work, Ayyash considers endurance through both the figure in the work and through the viewer’s interaction with the video, where both exert effort to hold a position, evoking the banality underlying the work.

Dubai-raised artist, Mona Ayyash explores themes of memory, the everyday and the relationship between belonging and place through multimedia works. Selected group exhibitions include Loaning Sister Cities, Casino Artspace, Hamilton (2016); Collision 11, Parisian Laundry, Montreal (2015); SIKKA Art Fair, Dubai (2012), Regarding Borders, Maraya Art Centre, Sharjah (2010), Dubai Episode, and The Third Line, Dubai (2010). She participated in Campus Art Dubai 5.0 Core Programme and was an artist-in-residence at the fall 2017 Alserkal Residency cycle. Ayyash holds an MFA in Studio Arts from Concordia University, Montreal. She lives and works in Dubai.