WIE Kollektiv: Where I End

Year : 2023

Venue : Backhaus Project, Berlin, Germany

‹Where I End› was the inaugural exhibition of the WIE Kollektiv, a group of ten international artists from diverse backgrounds. The October exhibition at the Backhaus Projects, Berlin, explored the theme of boundaries - from the personal to the universal. Each of the works told a story of reevaluating self-identity, relationships and our place in the broader tapestry of existence. ‹Where I End› was a multi-sensory experience that invited visitors to journey into that elusive space where they end and everything else begins. As part of the exhibition, Sulafa presented Tracing the Invisible no. 16 and the crochet sculpture Tangible no. 3 that was born from the charcoal gestural drawing.

Tracing the invisible #16
‍Charcoal on paper
47x35 cm
2023

Tangible #3
‍Crochet yarn
40x30x30cm
2023

In the art of crochet, each movement of the artist's hands is not merely an action; it is also an extension of their being, a reflection of who they are in that precise moment, unique and never to be replicated. Within Sulafa’s practice, she desires to capture these fleeting moments, turning them into artworks themselves. As she crocheted, a charcoal stick was attached to the crochet hook, functioning as an extended arm, recording these movements, creating gestural drawings on paper. These "traces" are more than mere lines; they are a visual representation of the labour behind crochet. In mapping out the rather rhythmic, systematic hand movements of crochet, Sulafa realized how chaotic and unpredictable the motion of this art form really is. From the chaos of these traces, an organic form was born, which Sulafa used as inspiration to create a three-dimensional crocheted sculpture. The transformation from two-dimensional drawings to three-dimensional textile sculptures is a critical aspect of her work. This process bridges the gap between the flatness of the paper and the tangible reality of the crochet pieces. This piece resembles a multi-layered landscape, by tracing and recreating those disordered shapes then intuitively ordering them once again. Through this sculpture, Sulafa explores the nuances of the grayscale spectrum, journeying through the shades of black and white. This exploration is more than a study of contrasts; it is a quest to find the boundary between order and disorder, rules and chaos, to understand how one influences the other.
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