Hangama Amiri Stitches Memories of Migration into Vivid Textile Portraits

"Hangama Amiri translates fragments of her teenage years and family history into quilted portraits and tender tableaus. The artist, who resides in upstate New York and maintains a studio in Red Hook, is interested in recollection and the stories that make us who we are. "There's an innocence and a special quality in revisiting and reminiscing those memories, especially that my family and I spent those years in migration across Central Asia," she adds."

"Amiri begins with a drawing that she slices into shapes and traces onto velvet, silk, polyester, and other textiles sourced from Afghan-owned shops, online sources, and the occasional gift from friends and colleagues. Once cut out, these individual pieces layer onto a muslin backdrop, creating vivid portraits and domestic scenes with visible seams. Doing so "adds another layer of mark-making and texture," she shares, noting that she utilizes a machine for this final step."

"Often focusing on the decorative elements of a space or a figure's sartorial choices, Amiri captures a particular moment in time, highlighting a sense of familiarity and intimacy with her fleeting subject matter. Several works portray a meal shared among friends, while "Man with Vase of Tulips" depicts the titular character cradling a bouquet, a small photograph peeking through the cluster of vibrant flowers. Although we don't know the location-perhaps he's sitting in Afghanistan, Canada, or elsewhere-the piece exudes a sense of longing, exemplifying the artist's enduring interest in preserving and resurfacing moments otherwise bound to the past."

Hangama Amiri left Kabul at age seven and later settled in Canada after years of migration across Central Asia. She creates quilted portraits and domestic tableaus that translate fragments of teenage years and family history into textile compositions. Amiri sources velvet, silk, polyester, and other fabrics from Afghan-owned shops, online vendors, and friends, cutting layered shapes traced from sliced drawings and stitching them onto muslin backdrops. Visible seams and machine stitching function as additional mark-making and texture. Her works often depict intimate moments—shared meals, sartorial detail, and solitary figures—conveying longing, recollection, and the significance of women's roles.

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