"In some images, the sculptural objects allude to the toil of women’s work—a ceramic water jug, glass bottles, circle pans—and the gendered roles these items of domesticity might signify such as water bearer, bread seller, or milk maid. In others, we see the craftsmanship of women’s work—embroidery, sewing, weaving—made manifest in crowns constructed of feathers or spools of thread.
In other scenes, Sama Alshaibi interrogates objects rampant throughout the genre of Orientalist portrait photography—the veil, mashrabiya, smoker’s pipe—that have aided a Western gaze to romanticize, eroticize, fetishize, and other the Middle Eastern woman. Or, worse, render them invisible or hyper-visible, which is its own kind of invisibility." - "Women's Work: Art & Activism in the 21st Century curator Grace Aneiza Ali
Images featured here: Hornet's Nest, Justice, Sheesha, and Gamer Stack from the project 'Carry Over,' 2018. Gumoil on cotton rag, 20.5 x 13.75 inches, unique print. 'Carry Over' was supported in part by a grant from The Arab Fund for Arts and Culture and the Arizona Commission on the Arts which receives support from the State of Arizona and the National Endowment for the Arts. On view through August 2 at Pen and Brush.
