Ayan Farah: Maps

10 Jun-3 Sep 2016

Overview

Pippy Houldsworth Gallery is delighted to present a solo exhibition of new paintings, Maps, by London-based artist Ayan Farah from 10 June to 10 September 2016. Farah’s work records the physical and ephemeral traces of particular geographical locations. The artist treats swatches of fabric with minerals and natural pigments sourced from around the world before stitching them together and stretching them as one, multi-faceted piece.

For the exhibition, the artist has made a series of paintings in which she has re-purposed domestic linen and jute from nineteenth and twentieth century homes, dying the materials using clay mixed with marigold and indigo. Built intuitively, each of the works incorporates scraps of excess fabric salvaged from the production of older paintings, bringing together materials that span both time and place. This mode of working also reflects the sustainable nature of Farah’s practice, actively sourcing organic materials and engaging with natural processes in order to make her paintings. The resultant patchworks create a topographical effect similar to the aerial views captured in the paintings of Peter Lanyon and Richard Diebenkorn.