In Impressions, I use photographs of my parents in early adulthood to explore my desire to learn about them. Repeating the embraces, the faces, the cars, my late grandfather, and colors to create patterns makes me feel a stronger and stronger connection to these objects and people. These patterns create a new visual language and a stronger narrative of my parents. The process involves layering inks, transparencies, colors, matrices, compositions informing what Tina M. Campt calls a "haptic encounter" archival images.
My printmaking practice is largely informed by the Pattern and Decoration movement, which sought inspiration beyond Western male contexts and looked towards global art. Islamic tile works, ceramics from the Ilkhanid period, Pakistani textiles sewn by my Mom, among other sources, serve as contexts for my inspiration. I also look to contemporary artists who explore Muslim sensibilities and hybrid cultural identities, such as Osman Khan, Yasmine Diaz, Aryana Minai, and Amna Asghar. The blend of traditional craft with new technologies like the laser cutter reflects the contemporary context of print media, through which I can speak to cultural tensions and nuances arising from living with hybrid identities, memory, and change.
