Samiya Younis

As a contemporary female British Pakistani artist from a South Asian culture, my practice is based around exploring my identity. Examining interdisciplinary modes of construct/deconstruct, incitement, provocation exploring tension. I also investigate material language, research, theory and textile-based concern with embodiment in dress.

I work with mixed media ranging from fabrics through to plaster and silicone casting. The fabrics relate to the oppressive nature of traditional clothing wrapped tightly, stitched or stretched, constraining movement and individual expression. The plaster casting process embodies a controlled life and repression.

There is tension within my work in terms of both content and material appearance, from the knotted rope that indicates the more it is pulled the tighter it becomes, to the rock-like forms tightly bound in cloth. Material language and the tensions within materials have a symbolic nature in my work and they are explored through my concepts, metaphorical materials and processes. I create paintings, drawings, performance and sculpture, and my works interpret emotions, experiences, tradition and religion. My intentions are to reveal oppressive forces through processes of veiling, rupturing and exposing a hybrid of cultural identities.