MEET THE ARTISTS FAC 2017: SAMAA AHMED
Samaa Ahmed is a diasporic visual artist. She specializes in using paint, charcoal, oil, laser cutting, and 3D printing to create mixed media works that are vibrant and textural. Her works are inspired by South Asian mythology and folklore, and traditional Pakistani patterns and handicrafts. Her recent work has explored themes of reclamation: reclaiming narratives, reclaiming painting styles (celebrating Pakistani truck art), representations (particularly in the way that women have been portrayed in Pakistani media through billboard illustrations and movie posters). She contrasts “high” and “low” art through combining complex subject matter and stories reminiscent of Mughal miniatures with commercial style images, colours, and reproductions. She creates reprints of her works to enhance these images with beads, rhinestones, mirrors, ribbons, etc. to blur the distinction between preserving a historical art form and making it more accessible to contemporary society.
Her pieces have been featured at local and international exhibitions, including an ongoing exhibit at the University of Toronto iSchool where she was commissioned to create two indoor murals. She is a Master’s candidate at OCAD University, a board member of the Feminist Art Conference, a researcher at Mural Routes, and the founder of ARTBOX Toronto - a monthly subscription service that promotes emerging local artists.
Noor Jehan, laser cut on wood (2016) ®
In your artist statement, you discuss the importance of providing alternative representations of Pakistani and South Asian “womxn” in your work. The recent portraits you’ve created—that will be featured in the upcoming FAC conference and exhibition—portray revolutionary Pakistani and South Asian womxn. Could you discuss your inspiration in producing these works and why you chose to represent these iconic figures?
Living in diaspora, very far away from my family, I have had to create my own sense of Pakistani identity. In part, I have done that through connecting with Pakistani music and imagery from the 1950s-80s, which is why the first piece I chose to create was of Noor Jehan, who was an iconic Pakistani actress and singer. I chose her because she was one of the most influential musicians in South Asia in the last century. Listening to Noor Jehan’s songs, and watching her perform, connects me to a time in Pakistani history that my family often references. My parents tell me stories about what it was like growing up in Pakistan in the 1960s and 70s, and even though I have never experienced it, I have gotten a glimpse of it through archival media.
In a way, I glorify figures like Noor Jehan, and even Nazia Hassan, because in subtle ways their music was ever present in my life. As a third culture kid and immigrant, sometimes the easiest thing to do is to hold on to these things - like songs, or fashion - and create narratives out of them that speak to you. So, my pieces are more than just about Noor Jehan or Nazia Hassan, they are about accessing a part of my cultural heritage and the significance of that in my life.
Eyebrow Game Strong (2015)
How do you see your alternative representations of Pakistani and South Asian womxn operating in a Toronto viewing context?
There is a large South Asian community in the GTA, and within a creative and artistic context, there have been more kinds of representations of our community(ies) available to the public. Even within the last year I have seen an increasing number of desi women exhibiting their art and gaining more recognition for their works, like Nimisha Bhanot, Babbu the Painter, Zahra Siddiqui, Hate Copy, and Meera Sethi, amongst others. I think that is amazing, and I am really thankful to be a part of a cohort of desi artists who are reclaiming and putting forth unique representations of ourselves. Having said that, we are such a diverse community, none of our works are able to showcase the complexity and entirety of our community. For that reason, even though there is a lot more art being created around similar themes, you can never really have too much representation.
I think what is more interesting to consider, is seeing how these works operate within a feminist viewing context. I make art for myself and my community, but I understand that when viewed from a predominantly white, Western gaze, it is easy to Orientalize the images I create. I am not interested in catering to stereotypes, but it is also not the intention of my artistic work to combat them. I hope that foregrounding my identity as Pakistani, immigrant, unapologetically brown and “foreign” when presenting my work challenges viewers to examine their own biases.
I create images of strong, powerful, beautiful Pakistani women, and the biggest compliment for me is having other brown girls respond and relate to my work. It is so important to feel affirmed by art and culture, which is why I see my art as being feminist and radical.
Brown Girl Paradise (2016)
What does a “Pak-futuristic artscape” resemble? Do you see your work engaging with this envisioning?
I ground my professional work in a futurist context. Futurism as an artistic and socio-political concept has been around since the early 20th century, and many groups have used futurism as a way to examine and imagine new possibilities for themselves. Right now, I am doing my Master’s of Design at OCADU in Digital Futures, so I spend a lot of time thinking about augmented and virtual reality, new possibilities, and technology.
In that same vein, I think of “Pak-futurism” as a mode for me to recreate and envision myself, my identity, and my communities in a broadened context. I am not limited by what is already determined or what the current realities/constraints/pressures/expectations are - both on a personal or global scale - for what it means to be Pakistani.
In 2015 I started a digital and artistic project called “Brown Girl Positivity” where I, and others, reimagine what it might mean to be a positive, nurtured, complex, happy, brown girl. What would we do if we could make the future in our image? What would that image be? Through technology and arts practice I get to explore those images and create space for myself, and others who share my identity and strivings, without having to cater to hegemonic power structures or institutions.
Where can we find you and your work online?
You can follow me on instagram @wearivebeen, or buy prints of my pieces through my store, http://society6.com/wearivebeen.
Interview and edits by Valérie Frappier, FAC Blogger
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