to the undying woman in black / به زن سیاه پوش نامیرا
2024, 3.5 x 3 inches, 9 pages, archival prints on cotton, editions of 30
The pocket-sized fabric book was created in a moment of mourning and searching in shadows, open doorways, and parted curtains. The close-ups are of indentations made by my mother and her classmates as they posed in front of one their father’s newly acquired camera in early 1980s Soviet-occupied Kabul. This practice of searching for signs in my mother’s photographs is rooted in a search for my grandmother, Bibi Amir. She didn’t have her photograph taken but was often present in family events that were documented. I obsessively searched for her in corners of family archives thinking I'll find a hand or shadow that belongs to her. I began printing on cotton and organza fabrics that resembled the textures of the veils she’d wear. The [carryable carriers] [portable portals] fabric book becomes as a catch and release holding grief between these spaces.
