As a person of Palestinian descent who grew up in diverse communities in the Middle East and North America, I use my art to question conceptual ideas of self-identification, social construction, ethnology, and intellectual traditions. These ideas are continually engaged with through my process and development of diverse materials and forms.
The Intricacies of Wholeness (2018-ongoing) is a process-driven series in which I use the visual language of Palestinian tatreez as well as the ritualistic dimensions of its practice to create work that reflects on the notion of self-identification and belonging. Tatreez has served as a form of communication for Palestinians; the language of its motifs and technique have given embroiderers the power to circumvent oppression and convey their stories.
Above: Samar Hejazi, Little Blue-six, 2021. Tatreez (Palestinian embroidery) from The Intricacies of Wholeness series, 20 x 10 cm. Photo by Jessica Thalmann
Image description: The corner of a woven textile, with threads and wire coiling and extending away from a patterned weave. The threads and wire suggest the textile is undergoing a process, either reaching completion or being taken apart.
Traditional embroidery follows a strict methodology that expects a specific technical performance from the embroiderer, and in my work, I compare these expectations to those placed on people by societal ideologies. By working with the motifs, pulling them apart, distorting them, playing with shadow and scale, I interrupt the rhythmic, repetitive performance and negotiate a new way for them to exist. Pulling threads through, in, and out of the motifs represents a resistance to order and containment; they create an abstraction, blurring the boundaries of the motifs and challenging the shapes they are forced into. The rhythm of the work performs with the viewer; it shows variations and distortions of meaning within similar geometric forms. Every new distortion is a reflection of a new narrative, metaphorically liberating the motif. These manipulations explore the infinite possibilities in which form and meaning can be grouped, shaped, and defined.
This process of art making challenges the varying and opposing narratives that are used to support social constructs, and puts into question the basis from which knowledge is drawn and belief systems are established. The artworks create a space for exploration; they are a method of engaging, processing, and understanding differences. They are an expression of liberation from normalized ways of thinking.
Samar Hejazi is a visual artist of Palestinian descent based in Toronto. Since graduating with a BFA in New Media from Ryerson University, she has been invited to attend residencies at the Arquetopia Foundation in Mexico and Peru, as well as at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Toronto. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally. www.samarhejazi.com
This article is published in issue 38.3 of BlackFlash magazine. Get this issue
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