The Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture (MAC) in Spokane, Washington had a special exhibition: Humaira Abid: Searching for Home features the artwork of Seattle-based, Pakistan-born artist Humaira Abid.
According to MAC:
“Searching for Home presents a human-scaled look at the worldwide refugee crisis, focusing on the plight of women and girls, who make up a disproportionate percentage of the millions who have fled their home countries as a result of political conflict and strife, domestic abuse, ethnic cleansing, and persecution.”
According to MAC:
“Abid is known for her unique visual language, which includes the discipline of traditional Mughal miniature painting and wood sculpture. Her career-long decision to specialize in woodcarving, a male-dominated field, reflects her commitment to challenging stereotypes and exposing taboos.”
Shown below are some of Abid’s wood sculptures.
Abid’s art explores themes of war and displacement. Exhibition Content Advisory:
“Some of the artworks in this exhibition include red stains representing blood. If you prefer not to view this content, please turn around…”
Borders and Boundaries
Made in 2017, Barbed wire: Mahogany wood, carved. Fenceposts: Cedar wood. Underwear: Pine wood, carved; red wood stain.
Searching for Home
Made in 2016-2017 using pine wood, carved; red wood stain.
Don’t Forget Your Lunch
Made in 2009 using mahogany wood, carved; sand-cast bronze.
Breast Pump
Made in 2017 using pine wood, turned and carved; red wood stain, wire, epoxy putty, paint. According to MAC:
“The small and seemingly banal utilitarian implements that facilitate human existence have their place in the home and are universally taken for granted. But for the mother on the move, forced to fold an entire home into a suitcase, space and weight is critical. How does she decide what to pack and what to leave behind? Against the monumental impossibility of this task, size and scope collapse into a portable representation of home and its meaning.”
More museum exhibitions
Museum of Arts and Culture: Threshold India (museum exhibition)
Museum of Arts and Culture: The illustrations of N.C. Wyeth (museum exhibition)
DreamWorks: How to Train Your Dragon (museum tour)
Museum of Glass: Out of the Vault (photo diary)
Museum of Glass: Italian artist Lino Tagliapietra (museum exhibition)
Portland Art Museum: Some nineteenth-century art (museum exhibition)
Portland Art Museum: Diego Rivera and Mexican Modernism (museum tour)
Missoula Art Museum: Neon art (museum exhibition)