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Project Atrium: Anila Quayyum Agha

Pakistani-American artist Anila Quayyum Agha uses light and cast shadow to transform the Atrium Gallery into a place that alludes to Islamic sacred spaces dense with geometric ornamentation and pattern. Inspired by traditional Islamic architectural motifs, Agha creates laser-cut steel lanterns that conjure the designs of historic sites and create a space of peace and tranquility. For the first time, Agha's shadows fall on dark colored walls to address her concerns with the current political environment in the United States toward immigration and people of color.

This exhibition was made possible due to the generous support of the Brook and Hap Stein Emerging Artist Prize Fund, Driver, McCafee, Hawthorne & Diebenow, the Efroymson Family Fund and the National Endowment for the Arts.

 

Artists

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Anila Quayyum Agha

Pakistani-American artist, Anila Quayyum Agha, holds an M.F.A in Fiber Arts from the University of North Texas. Agha employs meticulous and intricate detail work in her drawings and installations. Ranging from embroidery to bead work to carved screens elaborately lit in space, Agha re-presents traditional forms of Islamic art including calligraphy and geometric pattern. In doing so, Agha incorporates culturally specific designs and motifs to explore global politics, as well as gender roles, and cultural intersections as they relate to home, place, and migration.

Photo by Steve Prachyl