Ruby Chishti

Contemporary Soft Sculpture: Immortalize Yourself!

Course Description
While juggling daily tasks we may often feel as though we are caught up in a tornado. At times, life seems to be whirling out of control. When this happens, then nothing can be more exciting than going back to basics, back to sheer moments of delight without even thinking of any loss or gain. The idea of true art making begins out of this need. Art practitioners often feel that such moments have the capability to heal.

Sculpture has often been attached to difficult technical processes: bronze casting, metal fabrication, intricacies of fiberglass, kiln-related issues of ceramics, etc. This fabric sculpture workshop at Shakerag will help participants make art without getting wedged into anything. During this workshop participants will make sculptures out of fabric by using very simple methods of sewing and stuffing, enjoying the warmth and tactile qualities of the medium. I consider sewing to be an ancient yet wonderfully effective process which helps the creator to understand the idea of mending and repairing in all walks of life.

Knowing oneself is the most important work of any artist. Material and its process provides a great way to connect to one’s soul, and form will help the artist to understand one’s body. To explore the potential of the material, participants will be introduced to the method of fabric casting, which they can incorporate into their own work. After getting familiar with stitching fabric, participants will make sculpture using their own bodies as references.

In attempting to put one’s feelings into form, the result can be unusual, beautiful, comical, or poignant. Participants will be encouraged to discover their inner artist and set free the poetry in their souls. They will make their own self, the essence of self, by simplifying and stylizing according to their ability. Since art is about enjoying the freedom of creation, it is important to bring out the self and one’s unique experiences, thoughts, and feelings.

Artist's Biography
Born in 1963 Jhang Pakistan, Ruby Chishti graduated from the National College of Arts in Lahore, Pakistan, in 1988. She has been exhibiting internationally since 2000. She participated in the first 2001 VASL Triangle International Artist workshop at Giddani, Pakistan. Her interest in working in ephemeral materials refers to the transitory nature of life. Her work in fabric and straw offers a link between the tradition of doll making and the contemporary sculpture of India and Pakistan.

Chishti has held residencies in England and Pakistan, and in 2006 she received a Fellowship Award at the Vermont Studio Center. She recently participated in the DWAYER International Women’s workshop of Dialogues and Cultures in Alexandria, Egypt. Her work is held in several international collections and has been featured in numerous books and magazines. Ruby Chishti moved to America in 2002 and now lives and work in the San Francisco Bay area in California.

Artist's Statement
Each year when autumn uncovers secretly woven birds’ nests, it reminds me of the journey of time, and how the passage of time brings enormous changes in the world and in one’s life. Things appear or disappear, vanish or transform, but the desire to rebuild and repair those scars that time leaves behind remains constant.

My work explores gender relationships and disparities in light of personal experiences and traditional beliefs. It also unveils the presence of power and violence as a social critique.

I feel the incessant need to translate my emotions and memories into a stimulating language of forms that initially appear naive and simplistic, but are psychologically complex and compelling. These works evoke sympathy and bring humor, subversion, and sarcasm to the viewing experience.

I have my own history with this substance, “fabric”: my work is rooted in a common feminine craft and is the fusion of instinct, ability, and profound life experiences. As a child I was drawn towards making dolls with cloth, and as a young girl I meticulously stitched my own clothes, but in 1999 I discovered cloth as a medium of sculpture when I felt a connection between the exhausted castoffs of fabric and the frail body of an inert being…my mother. All those heaps of scraps of fabric started transforming into figurative forms that I had collected over the years and had never wanted to throw away…just as we tend to adhere passionately to our joys as well as our sorrows even when they no longer exist.

My work offers the link between the tradition of doll making (in India and Pakistan) and contemporary sculpture. The work I create, using ephemeral materials like fallen twigs and straw, refers to the transitory nature of life. I enjoy using material in a way that leaves no option to be possessed, transported, or preserved.

To me sewing, mending, and tying is a process of hope. My hands desire to feel the world with their touch as if it were a living being, tireless but defenseless against the forces that attempt to capture or control.

I cherish the privilege of living and creating. Believing that art grows out of necessity rather than fashion, I continue, pointing out the parallels running through the narration of my life, my art, and the world.