Sadia Fakih | Mythologies of The Interspace

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Sadia Fakih, "Pink Composite Elephant," 2023

36x24 inches. Courtesy of the Gallery.

VIVIANEART is pleased to present, Mythologies of The Interspace, an exhibition of new works by Calgary-based artist, Sadia Fakih. In this her first solo exhibition with the gallery, Fakih continues her exploration of space, place, and identity. In her colorful and intricately detailed collage drawings, she creates an intimate interspace. Using black canvas or panels, she places or displaces figures cut from drawing paper or other collage material. Here they inhabit an alien, transitory environment where disruptions and metamorphosis occur on a flat surface. Influenced by classical Persian and Indian miniature painting, Fakih’s colorful narratives explore cultural hybridity, displacement, intersectionality, and the Surreal. Her semi-autobiographical pieces delve into the idea of an alter-ego and of personal mythology building, expressing her place (or displacement) as a South-Asian feminine in the West. She explores the transitional spaces that erupt when imposing identities collide.

Fakih’s parents immigrated to Canada from Karachi, Pakistan in the mid-1970s. She was born in Nova Scotia and grew up in Ontario. She went on to complete her BFA at the Alberta University of the Arts in 2017 and her MFA in Fine Arts at the School of Visual Arts in New York City in 2019. Upon the completion of her MFA, she was selected for the Paula Rhodes Memorial Award for Exceptional Artistic Achievement. Her work has been included in exhibitions at Tiger Strikes Asteroid (New York), the School of Visual Arts Flat Iron Gallery and Nuit Blanche (Toronto). In 2021, she was an Artist-in-Residence (2D) at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. Sadia’s work is included in the collection of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts and Global Affairs Canada.