Due to the present situation in the Middle East, Salwa Aleryani could not be here. The US Embassy in Yemen remains closed Salwa was not issued with a visa.
I was approached by Triangle to fill the void at the last minute, the workshop was 2 days underway. I accepted under the condition that I work with Salwa somehow. I felt it was her space and I wanted to honour her and her position here.
The collaboration began almost immediately thereafter and we have been communicating daily for the past 10 days, lines of communication have been down on more than one occasion and Skype was shut down so we relied on emails with jpgs mostly and I called Salwa when I could...
Motifs all from Salwa's jpg images, chosen motifs taken from local sights and wall markings, the Arabic from an inscription on her house door
I've tried to respect her space (denied) and enclose it, protect it, I began to see our collaborative project about territorial rights.
The pot I found in West Elm garbage it had been broken and discarded, I feel that metaphor applies throughout, from fragments and shards I've tried to put something together so that it isn't lost and forgotten completely.
Thanks to Triangle for the invitation and to Salwa Aleryani for her openness and input without which none of this would have happened.
Lex Braes,
Brooklyn
29th September 2012