I've just discovered an artist from Baku, Azerbaijan, whose works re-imagine traditional decorative crafts by deconstructing ancient images and stereotypes and then re-assembling them to create new visual boundaries. And he's taken my breath away.
Faig Ahmed is among a new wave of contemporary artists who explore fresh new visual forms by experimenting with traditional materials and colors to engage the viewer through the unexpected. Inspired by ancient cults and cultures, Ahmed chooses patterns and ornaments that have been used in textile production in cultures across the globe, since the beginning of time. The cornerstone of his cultural heritage is the classical Azerbaijani carpet and the artist carries on this artistic tradition to create his woven pieces. But, not with ink and paper.
Instead, Ahmed remakes his carpet designs on the computer, by marrying the intricate methods of carpet weaving, steeped in history, to hyper-contemporary, digitally distorted images. Using pixilation, three dimensional shapes and melting paint to alter these patterns on hand woven rugs, Ahmed prints his designs on carpets, generating optical illusions that transform the finished work into something entirely contemporary.
Faig Ahmed lives and works in Baku, Azerbaijan and has exhibited his works worldwide, including solo exhibitions in New York, Paris, London, Berlin and Moscow. In 2013, he was nominated for the Jameel Prize at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. His works are in public collections around the globe including the Los Angeles County Museum, the Seattle Art Museum, the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, which I most recently visited.
If only I could afford one.
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