Efflorescence
Jasmin Ali
Efflorescence is defined as a period of flowering.
I am growing into and learning about the placement of my female identity in the natural world. I am interested in the confining and nurturing quality of houses, both in nature and in the realm of people. I am discovering ecofeminism and my relationship to the notion of being fruitful.
This is a state of efflorescence that I might grow into or out of.
Hovel 5: Five Inhabitants
2018
Made of found materials from my home in Queens, NY and in Baltimore, MD, this structure is a means of finding personal closure for the ending of five relationships.
Hovel 4: Sahadeo Home
2018
The only closed structure in the series, Hovel 4 is built according to my family's stories surrounding their house in Enmore, Guyana. Dried coconut branches and kite paper are remnant of Guyana's history of indentured servitude and the tradition of kite flying. It is paired with a projection of my relatives in Enmore and an audio clip of my family gathering in NYC.
Hovel 3: Shadow Home
2018
A wire and newsprint structure acts as a device that interacts with natural shadow landscapes, either by casting shadows that mesh with existing ones, or by blending into it.
Hovel 2: Empty Garments
2018
My garments and accessories take the form of a house in a lush environment. The images embody the feeling of the way I hope to present to others, void of my actual body.
Fertile
2018
A fabric room installation in which viewers are invited to take off their shoes, enter, and experience the feeling of a luxuriant womb. Vulva and fetal imagery reflect my interest in ecofeminism.
Fruit
2018
Fabric, painted beans, string and wooden forms create vulva and phallic imagery, further exploring my relationship with fertility and reproduction.
Modern Matriarch
2018
A vaginal form covered in plants indigenous to Guyana, with sonograms of a pregnancy and a proverb about the biblical 'virtuous woman.'
Plastic Birth
2018
Fetal structure made of astroturf, fabric, and other found plastic that restrain a form otherwise associated with new life.
Weight Lost
2018
Gold wire with green and yellow string outline and reclaim the areas of my body where I experienced a discouraging weight loss.
Overgrowth
2018
Figures across a 7' canvas outgrow architectural forms that are inspired by my house in Queens.
Ripe
2018
An image of my mom and aunts when they were younger is planted in a verdant environment filled with plants indigenous to Guyana and others that symbolize fertility.
