Mythical Mother 9th - 30th September
Nadia Nizamudin.
Artist Statement
A blanket is a source of comfort and security, and a quilt is usually passed down through generations. In a way, that is also similar to how young girls are culturally programmed; to be a woman, a wife, a mom. Our motherhood myths and old wives tales, the beliefs and taboos are passed through a generation of moms who were once wives (though not necessarily all) and who were once a young woman, and I used the idea of a blanket to express the idea that these beliefs and motherhood myths provide us comfort - a sense of identity - but in actuality can be cloying, choking, overbearing. You can be smothered by a blanket. It can be restrictive.
I stitched a few taboos or cultural beliefs that are passed down to women in my culture, which ran the gamut from beliefs/superstitions as a woman, as a wife, and as mothers to be. Initially I thought of using English, but I feel that the translation will not give these beliefs much strength. They are more powerful when uttered in my mother tongue, which is Malay. I also chose them because they are stifling and restrictive to women, which is apt with the cultural identity of being a woman.
The embroidered superstitions/beliefs/taboos are (in order from the bottom 2, left to right to the highest 2 left to right):
1. Jangan Menyanyi di dapur, nanti dapat suami tua - Don't sing in the kitchen, or you will marry an old man
2. Jangan duduk di tangga, nanti lambat kahwin - Don't sit on the stairs, or you will marry late.
3. Jangan makan pinggan di riba, nanti suami orang rampas - Don't eat with your plate on your lap, or your husband will be stolen by someone
4. Jangan menjahit masa mengandung, nanti mata rabun - Don't sew when you are pregnant, or you will be short sighted
5. Jangan bergaduh dengan mak mertua, nanti susah beranak - Don't fight with your mother in law, or you will have a hard labor.
Nadia Binti Nizamudin (b. 1984, Kuala Lumpur) is a visual artist, working primarily on textile painting and mixed media collage. She lives and works in Kuala Lumpur. Her artwork focuses on found, reclaimed or recycled materials and is always represented by bold and bright colors. Both her collage and textile painting carry narratives around loss, relationships and hope.
Nadia received her BEng. in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the University of Technology Petronas in 2007 and is currently an Instrument Engineer in the oil and gas industry as her day job. She has retained an art practice since her university days, alternating between printmaking, collage, painting, and currently embroidery and textile work.
She has exhibited widely, most notably at Cult Gallery (2019) and Bank Negara Malaysia (2018) and internationally with Spilt Milk Gallery, in Edinburgh (2019), and Museum of Contemporary Art Nashville (2021). Nadia was also selected for the Art Girl Rising residency at Sepat House (2019). She has been interviewed by Kaylan Buteyn for the Artist/Mother Podcast, in which she talks about juggling her technical career with her art practice and motherhood.