Artwork Page for Portrait of the Artist

Details / Information for Portrait of the Artist

Portrait of the Artist

2016

Shahzia Sikander

(Pakistani American, b. 1969)
publisher

Pace Editions

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Culture
America
Medium
etching
Measurements
Sheet: 68.5 x 53 cm (26 15/16 x 20 7/8 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of the Artist 2023.209.1
Copyright
© Shahzia Sikander
This artwork is known to be under copyright.
Location
Not on view
Print
?

Did You Know?

Sikander has been incorporating self-portraits into her work since The Scroll (1989-90), her undergraduate thesis project at the National College of Arts in Lahore, Pakistan.

Description

Portrait of the Artist is a collaborative work that comprises four etchings by the visual artist Shahzia Sikander (Pakistani-American, b. 1969) and an accompanying text by the author Ayad Akhtar (Pakistani-American, b. 1970). Through their respective mediums, Sikander and Akhtar interpret the Mi’raj, an Islamic narrative about the Prophet Muhammad’s mystical night journey and ascent to heaven, in relation to the artistic pursuit.
A vertically oriented print portrait depicts a large, bald head in profile facing our right. The skin is overlaid with varied gray textures, merging with numerous small winged figures and birdlike forms surrounding the head. White swirling patterns fill the lower portion, while the dark blue-gray background is speckled with white dots. This stylized composition uses muted tones to blend the central figure into a dense field of organic shapes.

Portrait of the Artist

2016

Shahzia Sikander, Pace Editions

(Pakistani American, b. 1969)
America

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