ARC Fine Art is pleased to announce Sanctuaries, a solo exhibition by interdisciplinary artist Alyssa Sakina Mumtaz. Moving rhythmically between geometric abstraction and aniconic representations of divine presence, the drawings, paintings, woodblock prints, and textiles on view in the exhibition reflect the diversity of Mumtaz’s work over ten years of practice. Linked by the common thread of contemplative inquiry, Mumtaz’s abstractions evoke metaphysical spatial concepts: prayer niches and narrow gates; radiating stars that are at once cosmological and architectural; gardens of paradise inscribed on silk. Developed in parallel, her anthropomorphic works depicting prayer beads, hovering robes, and supplicating hands explore gestures of prayer that bridge the human and the divine. As an American-born Muslim deeply influenced by sacred art across traditions, Mumtaz’s visual language bears witness to the material culture of Muslim belief as well as forms of devotional Americana that resonate with her rural upbringing.
Alyssa Sakina Mumtaz is an artist and educator working at the intersections of art, craft, and contemplative practice. She attended Yale University and completed her MFA in visual art at Columbia. Mumtaz’s creative projects and research have been supported by grants and fellowships from the Center for Craft, the Pollock-Krasner Foundation, MASS MoCA, the Berkshire-Taconic Community Foundation, the Kittredge Fund, the Lighton International Artist Exchange Program, the Mid Atlantic Art Foundation, Dieu Donné, the New York Foundation for the Arts and the Neiman Center for Print Studies at Columbia. Her work has been exhibited and collected internationally, including solo presentations in Karachi, Mumbai, New York, London and Palma, as well as curated group exhibitions at institutions including the Seattle Art Museum; the University of Buffalo Art Galleries; Dorsky Gallery Curatorial Programs; KMAC, Louisville; the Weatherspoon Art Museum; White Columns, and IPCNY. She lives and works in Williamstown, Massachusetts.
Sanctuaries will open with an artist’s reception on Saturday, April 22nd from 6 to 8pm and will be on view through May 26th at ARC Fine Art, located at 3113 Bronson Road in Fairfield, Connecticut. The artist will give brief remarks at the opening reception at 6:45pm.