Photo by Anni Christensen
Humaira Abid, originally from Lahore, Pakistan, is an artist trained in both wood sculpture and miniature painting. After defying her family who did not support her wishes to attend art school, she found that sculpture – and wood in particular – was a male-dominated medium and she decided she would change that. Abid took on the difficult challenge of both her media and graduating with honors while finding her passion: bringing up issues that are typically taboo or shied away from in artwork. Abid has said that artists have a big responsibility to make change and take on difficult subject matter, “If we don’t, who will?”
Portrait by Steven Miller
This talk focused on her first solo exhibit which recently opened at the Bellevue Arts Museum called Searching for Home. It of course showcases her incredible attention to detail in both her sculpture and painting, but the exhibit also highlights her passion for bringing difficult topics to light. Having made both Seattle and Pakistan home, Abid was interested in examining the unique struggles of female and child refugees. This series was inspired by interviews Abid conducted with many refugees who fled Somalia, Syria, and Afghanistan to Pakistan and the Pacific Northwest as these nuanced perspectives are often left out of statistical data concerning refugee crises.
During her interviews with these women, Adid was absolutely stunned by their positivity. Despite the pain of having to leave their home and belongings behind and being put in danger, they described their experience as one of learning. They were forced to consider what was most important to them and how to keep their family safe. Having immigrated and found refuge, they shared their story to show the positive side to this crisis.
Photo by Anni Christensen
As soon as the viewer enters the exhibit they are faced with a massive barbed wire fence, dividing the exhibit into boundaries. Having been raised by parents that immigrated from India to Pakistan, Abid mentioned that she grew up surrounded by barbed wire fences. She was intrigued by the concept of home – whether or not is where we are born or where we feel we belong. Unfortunately for many, home is dangerous and must be left behind, even when escaping requires crossing dangerous boundaries. She hangs a bloodied pair of underwear from the fence because women forced to flee from their homes often aren’t able to pack supplies for menstruation when they leave, forcing them to bleed freely on their clothing.
The wall opposite the fence has been subjected to water damage and bullet holes, greatly surprising the viewer with the hopes of giving an impression of what living room walls in abandoned homes look like in press photos from evacuated areas. Abid was deeply impacted by press photos of children in refugee camps and designed this wall of miniature portraits to honor their strength. Each child featured is between the ages of five and eleven, an age where they are still so innocent and confused, especially when leaving their lives behind.
Photo by Anni Christensen
Each portrait features a different story but her first painting in this series was inspired by a young girl with a broken shoulder. Upon seeing the reference photo, Abid was immediately reminded of a beautiful yet fragile dandelion, inspiring this piece.
In her talk, Abid discussed the impact of having a five-year-old daughter had on her perspective when hearing about the stories these refugees told. When she heard about a bombing on an elementary school that killed 140 children, she told the audience that she couldn’t sleep for days. Parents and families can try their best to keep their children safe but she came to realize that there is no safe place. She saw photos of the school washing away the pools of blood left behind from the children which pushed her to consider whether or not those stains would ever truly go away. What happened in that school and to those children would never be forgotten, inspired her Stains Are Forever piece that features 39 stained pacifiers, for the thirty-nine weeks of pregnancy, being swept away. Nine butterflies are seen on the broom as well, honoring the nine months of pregnancy every one of those children’s mothers went through.
Photo curtesy of Humaira.pk
Small ants are seen crawling around almost every one of Abid’s pieces in the show, an indication that the art features dead or decaying content. She also aims to start a conversation with the viewer about the different connotations of ants, because while they do fulfill a decomposing purpose, Abid noted in her talk that they are hardworking and exert power together with their community. They also migrate frequently, so they were naturally included in an exhibition exploring the experience of refugees.
Of the 140 children that were killed in that bombing, only one of them was a girl. Abid noted that the death of boys is often more significant to families because they are valued more in their society but she was shocked by this girl’s death. She was even more surprised and hurt when she found out that it was this girl’s first day of school when the bombing happened. She couldn’t stop thinking about her own young daughter and that it could have been her so she used her daughter’s shoes for a reference.
The shoes are placed in the exhibit below a swing Abid built, the face of which features a painting of her own daughter swinging in a lush garden of cacti. Her daughter does not wear shoes in the painting as she swings, inviting the viewer to consider the beautiful yet dangerous levels to this painting.
The content of the show is certainly heavy, motivating the viewer to consider the painful experiences of refugees in the chaos of today’s political conflicts and warfare. Navigating the room with a barbed wire fence, brick rubble, ants, and blood, inevitably makes you uncomfortable – and that’s the point. Abid aims to bring these feelings to the surface, as they are only a part of the bigger picture of the refugee experience.
I was deeply moved not only by the works in the exhibit and the stories they encapsulate, but by Humaira Abid’s story as an artist as well. She and her work are outstanding. If you are able to make the trek across the lake to Bellevue, I would highly recommend spending an afternoon at BAM and seeing her inspiring work. It will be running through March 25th, 2018 and she will be speaking at KUOW’s Front Row Center on February 2nd.
ANNI CHRISTENSEN | The Handiest of Fans | KXSU Art Reporter