At the very top, Babel-like towers with cut-out windows twist in ink, casting shadows on the wall behind the cotton fabric. With calligraphic strokes, the towers flow down to form creased textiles. A human eye, a serpent’s scales and the feathery wing of an old deity peer out from the inky mass. All is kept together by rope. Someone is carrying this layered bundle, though only the hem of her skirt and her feet are visible. The load is evidently a heavy, burdensome one. Yet, one foot in front of the other, she perseveres.
The large, rectangular artwork is titled We take it as we go. The piece is part of Kevork Mourad’s solo exhibition Between Floating Worlds at Tabari Artspace, which opens on Tuesday, November 5 at Dubai International Financial Centre. The works are all painted on cotton fabric and feature a minimal amount of colour, if at all. Mourad brought the cotton fragments of his work from New York in a backpack, meticulously layering and framing them in Dubai ahead of the exhibition.