A Patchworked Timeline at Gallery 120

Nazarinne Ahmed exhibition now through Thursday, November 24, 2024

A Patchworked Timeline, an exhibition by Nazarinne Ahmed, is showing now through Thursday, November 24, 2024, at Gallery 120. Art shows and exhibitions are hosted at the Gallery 120 brick-and-mortar location in the atrium of the Fine Arts building on the Inver Hills campus in Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota.

Nazarinne Ahmed: Artist Statement

A Patchworked Timeline is a conversation about the impact of cultural erasure, forced assimilation, and the fragmented connections that people of color and children of immigrant’s experience with their heritage. It expresses the grief carried by those of us within the diaspora.

Through assembling diverse materials, images, and processes, the work reconstructs a period of history obscured by time. By weaving, layering, and re-contextualizing both found and handmade elements, I aim to reveal the gaps and silences born from systemic erasure and cultural disconnection.

As someone whose cultural roots have been disrupted, I’m drawn to how these experiences manifest visually and emotionally. The textures and imperfections in this piece invite viewers to reflect on the histories we inherit and those that have been obscured or lost.

By weaving together photos of my family, I created a timeline that resists linearity, smoothness, or completeness—a testament to resilience amid imposed identity fragmentation. The industrial nature of the materials carries the weight of industry and labor, underscoring themes of colonization and exploitation. Each layer, each sewn piece, and each imperfect edge resists the pressure to fully assimilate, celebrating my family’s history, however incomplete it may be.

WHAT: A Patchworked Timeline

WHO: Nazarinne Ahmed

WHEN: Now thru November 24, 2024

WHERE: Gallery 120

Fine Arts Building
Inver Hills Community College
2500 80th Street East
Inver Grove Heights, MN 55076
General: 651-450-3000
Gallery 120: 651-450-3101