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| anjuli . 2017 |
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| carolina . 2017 |
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| cassie . 2017 |
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| charlotte . 2017 |
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| khalid . 2017 |
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| winnie . 2017 |
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| 'thank you textile sisters' zine . 2017 |
this post is long overdue, but it only made sense to work on it when i got back to dubai. this is a post dedicated to the five wonderful women i shared my risd experience with in the textiles department.
in the fall semester of last year, i took a class titled 'materiality and intimacy' which focused on understanding intimate/personal objects and artworks. it was a struggle at first being a part of the class, because of student dynamics and immature conversations during class discussions. but overtime, it was one of my favourite classes i took at risd, as it expanded my knowledge of artists, works and reading material i would never have been exposed to. shout out to professor jo sittenfeld for really working hard in making the course engaging and enriching.
for one of the class assignments, i had to create a project that combined the two prompts of creating a ‘family album’ with a selected quote from one of our class readings. i selected a quote by nan goldin from her photo series ‘the ballad of sexual dependency’, which was my first time seeing her work. goldin describes how she built her own family around her circle of friends, which reminded me of my situation of being temporarily separated from my family back home, and having to create a new one in providence. my chosen family were my 'textile sisters' in the risd textile graduate program. here's what nan goldin said which really hit home:
“in my family of friends, there is a desire for the intimacy of the blood family, but also a desire for something more open-ended. roles aren’t so defined. these are long-term relationships. people leave, people come back, but these separations are without the breach of intimacy. we are not bonded by blood or place, but by a similar morality, the need to live fully and for the moment, a disbelief in the future, a similar respect for honesty, a need to push limits, and a common history.”
i really think i got lucky with the group of girls i shared the graduate experience with. as the only boy in my group, my ‘textile sisters’ were welcoming and open, accepting me into their lives. we’ve all come from different walks of life and experiences, but together we shared this moment, creating our own history and memories. we were all very aware that our time together was temporary, and we’d probably part ways to begin new chapters in our lives upon graduation. but the relationships we’ve built together will truly last forever.
i created a zine with illustrated portraits of my ‘textile sisters’ to commemorate the community we built for ourselves and each other. i gifted each of the girls a copy so that no one else except the six of us get to have one. this personal zine is my way of saying thank you to anjuli, carolina, cassie, charlotte and winnie, for 2 wonderful years together at risd.
