Having known each other online for some years, I had the privilege of meeting Giulia Baita in person at the opening of the “The Beauty Myth” exhibition at the Copernicus Gallery in Milan in May 2019.
It was an exciting day. Not only did we meet guests attending the opening but we also participated in a live mobile art workshop that Giulia had organized for that afternoon.
Giulia lives in Cagliari, the capital city of the Italian island Sardinia. In March 2017 she founded the MAG MobileArtGroup on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to promote Mobile Art as a new form of contemporary art.
I am sure that all the artists who are with me in this group will agree with me when I say how grateful I am for her passion and enthusiasm as well as her dedication to the artists she comes in contact with on a daily basis.
She has organized a number of exhibitions and as an artist who has been selected to participate, I can commend the organization and professionalism that accompany these events.
When we still lived in the UAE, I had one of my images printed multiple times onto fabric whilst I was on a visit to Germany. Now living in Canada, I finally got round to working on it during lockdown.
The work is made up of three layers, two of which I cut into strips to weave; the third serves as a backing.
I chose a weaving effect to portray interconnectedness and interdependence - concepts we all became more aware of after the onset of the pandemic, and the necessity of which will be strongly felt as we move out of it.
As all stores were shut at the onset of Covid, I made use of the cotton I had at home to do all the required stitching by hand.
The finished piece is 100cm X 130cm.
Updated: Aug 8, 2021
I was asked by Art and About Africa, a platform that allows users to discover the art scene in Africa, to be one of the first on their platform to share a bit about my African roots.
"I know what it is to wake to the early morning breeze and the gently chirping of birds. I know too that one can expect this to be interrupted by the loud, raucous cries of the hadedas flying overhead in a group."
..... read more from the piece I titled "Out of Africa".