Jasmin Ali
My body of work has been significantly moved by my realization that I am the same age as my mom when she immigrated from Enmore, Guyana to the States. I am exploring the gratitude I feel for her sacrifices, the reassurance of knowing that she is praying for me, the fear I have for her health, and the guilt of wanting to be unlike her.
Covering
2019
Indigo, turmeric, canvas, silk, cotton, weaving.
(Down the spine: "I Know You're Praying For Me")
My mother’s prayer is a powerful force that encompasses me. The dedication to naturally dyeing every material with Indigo and Turmeric is a small ode to her immense love. The motif of the orchid refers to a personal anecdote as well as a sense of femininity and matriarchy.
Baggage
2019
(inscribed with “Inherited Romantic Trauma”)
Indigo, pokeberries, silk, weaving, metal, chain.
I am releasing what I have inherited, with an understanding that I would not have come to be otherwise.
My Mother’s Replica
2019
Wood, satin, clay, pearls, projection.
My mother is the mold and I am the cast:
In addition to the inevitable recognition of my mother in my facial features and build, I desire to embody her through the gold jewelry she has passed down to me. Simultaneously, I have a youthful and misplaced urgency to make sure that I do not embody, but avoid, her legacy. This is the beginning of the exploration of that complexity.
Memory as Peripheral Vision
2019
Video
Beyond the edges of the facetime call is a peripheral view of my home, which I can recall comfortably from memory. On my mother’s side, there is no peripheral view; barely a ‘straight-ahead’. Now that I have left, the spaces that I navigate are unknown and unpredictable. There is comfort in knowing that the space between my peripheral vision and my mother’s ‘straight-ahead’ is a couple state lines, five hours, $25, and one call.
Compromised Beauty
2019
Metal, dress, cyanotype, pearls.
Scoliosis strains my mother’s sense of her own beauty, wish to find comfort, and my hope to remedy all of this.
On the dress, there is a cyanotype of my mom at age 19, myself at age 19, and a screenshot from a recent facetime call. On the cushion at the back, there is a cyanotype iMessage bubble that reads "I wish I was as pretty as you." I have been thinking about the systems of communication that have to compensate for my deep desire to reach my mom.
Blue Homage: A Saree.
thrifted bedsheet, cyanotype, screen print
2019
Conversations about my personal attempt to reach and explore Desi culture as an first generation American come together in a saree:
On the blouse and saree are cyanotypes of my Auntie Carol’s American hand-me-downs, and an image of my mother around the age she immigrated. A white screen printed pattern alludes to the absence of the colorful and textured embellishments found on traditional sarees. The use of thrifted materials attest to my attempt to imitate culture, rather than thrive for authenticity. But what is authenticity? I am learning that I am creating culture, one that is authentic in its own right.
