
FirstLook: "Intersections"
- Arts
- Photography
Installation by Anila Quayyum Agha // Photograph by Nash Baker
Using a single light suspended from the ceiling to shine through a laser-cut sculpture in wood that is painted black, Pakistani-American artist Anila Quayyum Agha transforms the Rice Art Gallery in Houston into an allusion to Islamic sacred spaces where geometric ornamentation and patterns themselves allude to the infinity of creation. The artwork was inspired, Agha says, by her visit to the Alhambra in Granada, Spain, where the Nasrid palace’s all-encompassing beauty of interlacing designs prompted re-flection upon her own childhood in Lahore, Pakistan, where culture barred her and other women from the creativity and community of the mosque—an experience she says led to “complex expressions of both wonder and the feelings of exclusion.”
Working from these contradictory emotions, Intersections creates a contemplative space, open to all, that repeats a symmetrical pattern she designed by combining and adapting decorative elements of the Alhambra. As the geometry becomes shadows, it covers not only surfaces, but visitors them-selves, dissolving boundaries and allowing the pattern itself to change with each movement.
In 2014 Intersections won Art-Prize’s Public Vote Grand Prize and split its Juried Grand Prize. Her current exhibit, Walking with My Mother’s Shadow, is on view at Aicon Gallery, New York, through November 26, www.anilaagha.com
Nash Baker is a Houston-based freelance photographer who has documented installations in the Rice Gallery since 2007. www.nashbaker.com.
Working from these contradictory emotions, Intersections creates a contemplative space, open to all, that repeats a symmetrical pattern she designed by combining and adapting decorative elements of the Alhambra. As the geometry becomes shadows, it covers not only surfaces, but visitors them-selves, dissolving boundaries and allowing the pattern itself to change with each movement.
In 2014 Intersections won Art-Prize’s Public Vote Grand Prize and split its Juried Grand Prize. Her current exhibit, Walking with My Mother’s Shadow, is on view at Aicon Gallery, New York, through November 26, www.anilaagha.com
Nash Baker is a Houston-based freelance photographer who has documented installations in the Rice Gallery since 2007. www.nashbaker.com.
You may also be interested in...
FirstLook: A Market’s Port of Call
History
Arts
After the war in 1991, Kuwait faced a demand for consumer goods. In response, a popular market sprang up, selling merchandise transported by traditional wooden ships. Eager to replace household items that had been looted, people flocked to the new market and found everything from flowerpots, kitchen items and electronics to furniture, dry goods and fresh produce.Spotlight on Photography: Explore Moroccan Zellige (Zillij) Tilework in Fez With Peter Sanders
Arts
In patterns and refractions, the old city of Fez, Morocco, comes to life through the geometric tile works known as zillij. In 2001, AramcoWorld commissioned photographer Peter Sanders to tell the story of a family who for five generations has added new dimensions to art and architecture.Spotlight on Photography: Arabs In America
Arts
In 1975 AramcoWorld dedicated an entire issue to celebrating the lives of Arab Americans and their impact—from renowned heart surgeon Michael DeBakey to White House correspondent Helen Thomas to entertainer and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital founder Danny Thomas.