Breath of Miraj by Ayad Akhtar

2016

Pace Editions

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Culture

America

Medium

Collaborative text

Measurements

Framed: 87.6 x 73 x 3.8 cm (34 1/2 x 28 3/4 x 1 1/2 in.); Sheet: 68.5 x 53 cm (26 15/16 x 20 7/8 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of the Artist 2023.209.5

This artwork is known to be under copyright.

Location

Not on view

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.