The journey with Tracing the Invisible began with curiosity - Sulafa wanted to capture the invisible labor behind crocheting, a process that has always stood at the heart of my art practice.
Her exploration led to quite a simple yet elegant solution. She attached a marker to her crochet hook, and let each delicate twist and turn leave a trace on a piece of paper beneath.
On one hand, this performance creates a record of time and memory. On the other, it immortalizes the state of flow that Sulafa often finds herself in when crocheting.
The audience was invited to enter the space and to stand where they felt comfortable. People gravitated towards the artist, surrounding her as she was crocheting. There was no background music in the space; instead, the silence of the spectators and the rustling sound of Sulafa’s movements made the music of the performance. The audience played an integral role in the creation of the traces. Sulafa’s movements were not just her own, but subtly influenced by the collective presence of the viewers.
Tracing the Invisible thus stands as an archival record of these shared moments. Ultimately, it is a celebration of the unseen, unspoken elements of art-making and of the beautiful language of crochet.