(2014) Visual Artist Statement: Sabba Syal Elahi on Unmanned

My art is largely impacted by the socio-political issues around Islam, the state of Pakistan, and my proximity and distance as a South Asian American. My inspiration is drawn from textiles, family photographs, media imagery, activism, and feminist theory. I create art objects in the in-between spaces, somewhere between 2D and 3D, art and artifact, handcrafted and technology.

My current work reflects on our surveillance state and the use of drones domestically as vehicles of surveillance and globally as agents of warfare. My hand embroidered and drawn imagery moves the viewer through aerial and peripheral views of domestic and civil spaces, the benign and the personal. I employ the decorative craft of embroidery to speak to the subversive nature of these issues in our everyday. Through this body of work, I draw a parallel to what is happening in many Muslim American communities, watched where they live, work, and pray.

Growing up in the Midwest, Pakistan was not even on the map for the majority of my peers and teachers. Now when mainstream America thinks about Pakistan, the war on terror, suicide bombings, and fundamentalist Islam often are associated. My own adult life and artistic career has also been colored by the U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the ongoing civil conflicts in Pakistan. I can’t be a citizen of this world and ignore neither these conflicts nor the localized effects of Islamaphobia, stereotyping, and racism of Muslim, South Asian, and Arab communities. I respond to these issues by making art, images rooted in personal stories, community, and family dialogues. 

Learn more at: http://elahiarts.org or http://elahiarts.net.

Learn More

There exists significant literature that informs us about the technology of drones, US drone policy, the impact of drone warfare, both on the ground and on those who operate drones, and the moral, ethical, personal, and political questions surrounding the use of drones. We have identified three articles below that you may find helpful in increasing your understanding:

Confessions of a Drone Warrior | Matthew Power; GQ 

The Rise of the Killer Drones: How America Goes to War in Secret | Michael Hastings; Rolling Stone 

Obama’s Speech on Drone Policy | New York Times