Heraa Khan

The theme that framed the residency was Comforting Illusions. Through my artistic practice, I investigate how human desires for control and order impact the natural world. I explored how illusion can both conceal and reveal, uncovering the intricate relationship between identity, land, and history. This exploration directly informs my work:

The grid, a reflection of human desire and our need to impose order. Yet, nature cannot be contained. It slips through the cracks, fragments, and flows beyond the boundaries we set. It exists in its own rhythms, untamed and free.

This tension unfolds within the forms I paint. The land beneath our feet—what once was and what will never be. Plants, animals, and the earth itself twist and turn in delicate balance, between the land we claim and the wild that persists.

With each stroke, I paint with the earth itself, using natural pigments that speak of place, history, and identity. Qalam, my paintbrushes, crafted from the land, hold the essence of what they meet. Each mark is an intimate conversation between hand and earth, between the human and the non-human. Through these marks, I seek connection—between the familiar and the unknown, between the tangible and the intangible.

Layers of tea become a living, evolving memory. Their rich, earthy tones, aroma and texture, reminiscent of my culture. As it seeps into the surface, it mirrors the way nature accumulates—patiently asserting its presence over time, even as we build and divide.

The works created during the residency are an exploration of home, land, and self. They reflect on how we, like the earth, are always shifting, always becoming, never fixed. Our identity, shaped by the places we come from, the places we move to, and the spaces in between, is as fluid as the land beneath our feet. We are always finding our place, always learning to exist within the ever-changing cycles of nature.