Migration -
ہجرت (Hijrat)
Hijrat in Urdu means migration. This project is a visual exploration of the artist’s memories of the experience of migration from Pakistan to Ireland in 2008.
Migration can sometimes resemble a process of propulsion into a strange and unfamiliar world, leaving one vulnerable and fragile, longing for the protection of a past state. The work alludes to fading imagery and formation of new and vivid shapes and colours arising from materials present in the artist’s surroundings. This process has been a birthing of a new state through repeated engagement with the elements of nostalgia. It encapsulates an escape into an idealised landscape which exists neither in the past or future, but compels the viewer to experience the present.
The artworks comprises of assembly of various materials: tracing paper, found objects, bog cotton, acetate sheet, ink, fur, gold leaf, and oil paint. The works are titled after various psychological scales used in a study that explored the outcomes of nostalgia on psychological growth, self-perception and behavioural intentions (Baldwin & Landau, 2013).
Migration can sometimes resemble a process of propulsion into a strange and unfamiliar world, leaving one vulnerable and fragile, longing for the protection of a past state. The work alludes to fading imagery and formation of new and vivid shapes and colours arising from materials present in the artist’s surroundings. This process has been a birthing of a new state through repeated engagement with the elements of nostalgia. It encapsulates an escape into an idealised landscape which exists neither in the past or future, but compels the viewer to experience the present.
The artworks comprises of assembly of various materials: tracing paper, found objects, bog cotton, acetate sheet, ink, fur, gold leaf, and oil paint. The works are titled after various psychological scales used in a study that explored the outcomes of nostalgia on psychological growth, self-perception and behavioural intentions (Baldwin & Landau, 2013).
