Rehmatullah Jaghoori
Pomegranate, mixed media on paper, 42X47 inch, 2009
Yes!, mixed media on canvas, 72X80inch, 2009
Artist Statement
My work has a similar quality to my grandmother’s quilts. She would sew together pieces of old torn cloth to make blankets that we could sit on or cover ourselves with. Formally, they were beautiful and looked a little like a collage from western art, such as those by Pablo Picasso or Robert Rauschenberg. The juxtaposition of shapes in her quilts, which were different colors and sizes, had spiritual and functional elements; I sensed the various spirits of people being transmitted through pieces of fabric. The formal, natural, and spiritual qualities of these quilts inspire the colors I use in my work and the act of carving into paper. My work approximates this phenomenon as if the painting is created with a needle.
The combination of different materials and visual languages that I incorporate on one surface is an attempt to create a visual equivalent to my experiences in the world around me. My work is based on circumstances that I have experienced and witnessed both during the Russian invasion of my native Afghanistan from 1979-1989, as a refugee in Pakistan, and also as a resident living in the US for the past ten years. The various elements in my work create a tension of forces that aren't specific to these two cultures or a narrative, but are about the complexities of life, struggle, and hope that I search for as I create my work.