Warhead I
Date2023
MediumCut paper, encaustic, embroidery, beads, and mylar on paper
DimensionsSheet: 41 1/2 × 29 1/2 inches (105.4 × 74.9 cm)
Matted: 44 × 33 inches (111.8 × 83.8 cm)
Framed: 48 5/8 × 35 5/8 × 1 1/2 inches (123.5 × 90.5 × 3.8 cm)
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number2024.7
Copyright© 2023 Anila Quayyum Agha.
The images and text contained on this page are owned by Telfair Museums or used by the Museum with permission from the owners. Unauthorized reproduction, transmission or display of these materials is prohibited with the exception of items deemed “fair use” as defined by U.S. and international copyright laws.Label TextTermed a “drawing” by the artist, Agha’s mixed media flatwork Warhead I combines textile processes including embroidery, wax, dyes, and silk screen printing to subvert traditional expectations surrounding handcraft work, often by women, through elevation of those materials and techniques into the fine art realm. Agha’s mother taught her to sew around the age of five to have practical skills, and her family encouraged her to pursue textiles over painting in art school. The exclusion of handicraft from fine art followed her into graduate school in Texas where her work was often written off too concerned with aesthetics and unserious. However, Agha recognized her labor-intensive hand work and Islamic-influenced designs as an authentic expression of herself. Today, Agha views embroidery as an embodiment of “the female presence and the push or pull of the needle and thread together represent[ing] the domestic identity of women and their ambivalent relationship to that identity.”
