Quilting Patterns of Identity
2019-2022
Quilting Patterns of Identity (installation video); Laser-cut paper, inks, gold leaf, 28’ x 16’ x 2’
Katara Cultural Village, Doha, Qatar
Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center
Oklahoma City
Gilcrease Museum
Tulsa, OK
Quilting Patterns creates narratives of feminist transnational identity, framing floral and geometric patterns from quilt designs from Pakistan with quilt designs from the Gilcrease collection. By blending the geometric patterns in the quilt designs, the work creates a symbolic dialogue between women from different cultures and time periods, showing human connections through shared art forms and expressions.
Laser-cut paper, inks, gold leaf, 28’ x 16’ x 2’
To design this installation, I researched historical quilt patterns from the Gilcrease collection and combined the geometric patterns from these with floral and geometric quilt patterns from Pakistan and South Asia. By blending the patterns in the quilt designs, the work creates a symbolic dialogue between women from different cultures and time periods, showing human connections through shared art forms and expressions.
This work is a tribute to the women quilt-makers in many regions whose identities and memories are preserved for posterity in the quilts they create. This project is also about the multi-layered identities that immigrant women assume within and between cultures. Each immigrant mixes parts of her native culture with parts of the new one into a unique hybrid self. As in quilts, some elements of women’s personal identity lie in shadows, hidden from themselves and others, while other layers find expression at the surface.
© 2014-2024 Sarah Ahmad. All Rights Reserved.