Magdalen Road Studio Box PrintExchange 'CommUnity'
'The Devil is in the Detail'
In my work I use Tessellation and repetition from the matrilineal quilt making traditions in Pakistan and decorative elements, such as roses, overlaid among textural mark making to create rich, warm coloured and layered patterns.
What is hidden in the image, in its symbolic and graphic elements and in its veil-like layers, is a challenge to a society in which moral codes define women by erasure. The roses on closer look imply sensual objects, suggesting the form of their pudenda: their reason to be ashamed. (شرم گاہ) In Urdu the word for female genitals has been erased from any anatomical description, from any use by women, it exists only as an insult, things done to it by men. These parts, attached to women, these unnamed organs are normally guarded and protected by patriarchal values and standards of honour.
Subverting shame and enforcement, the visual quilted image highlights the resistance acts of mothers, quietly in their spare time making quilts to pass on to their daughters.