A Patchworked Timeline
By Nazarinne Ahmed
On View: November 4- November 28
Artist Statement
A Patchworked Timeline is a conversation about the impact of cultural erasure, forced assimilation, and the fragmented connections that people of color and children of immigrant’s experience with their heritage. It expresses the grief carried by those of us within the diaspora. Through assembling diverse materials, images, and processes, the work reconstructs a period of history obscured by time. By weaving, layering, and re-contextualizing both found and handmade elements, I aim to reveal the gaps and silences born from systemic erasure and cultural disconnection.
As someone whose cultural roots have been disrupted, I’m drawn to how these experiences manifest visually and emotionally. The textures and imperfections in this piece invite viewers to reflect on the histories we inherit and those that have been obscured or lost. By weaving together photos of my family, I created a timeline that resists linearity, smoothness, or completeness—a testament to resilience amid imposed identity fragmentation.
The industrial nature of the materials carries the weight of industry and labor, underscoring themes of colonization and exploitation. Each layer, each sewn piece, and each imperfect edge resists the pressure to fully assimilate, celebrating my family’s history, however incomplete it may be.