Mixed-Media Pieces, 1990
Media:
Acrylic, oil, wax, photographs, wood veneer and vinyl tile inlay on panels
Description:
These paintings are from a series I did while still in graduate school; they were the beginning of my investigation into my own cultural background and mark the beginning of the use of my experiences and my family’s as a basis for my work. I started them by trying to come up with a visual image that would effectively represent the two sides of my experience: the Middle Eastern and the Middle American (I was born in Indiana to parents who emigrated from Iraq). I decided to use the image of the oriental carpet and juxtapose it with patterned vinyl flooring material, the kind commonly found in American kitchens. I theorized that both the woven carpets and the vinyl flooring were attempting to accomplish the same result, that of bringing pattern and beauty into the home, and it was interesting to note that both mediums often made use of the natural world as a basis for their designs. I was fascinated by the process of replication that occurred from the original natural element, to the carpet, to the flooring, and how as each step moved farther from the original it lost it’s uniqueness. This process seemed to emulate the immigrant experience; with each generation farther removed from the original culture and becoming less distinct. In my process, I tried to emulate forms and techniques found in middle eastern art such as the arabesque and the technique of inlay, but my attempts were consciously very crude in comparison with the originals—so I created inlaid patterns with different patterns of vinyl flooring, or with wood veneers and vinyl, and I created crude wooden models of arabesques to paint from. As the paintings evolved they led me to ask more questions of my parents, and to discover more about my history, and I eventually began making narrative installations as a way to more directly communicate my experiences.
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