A mish-mash of art & craft by artist Izziyana Suhaimi

DON’T FORGET TO REMEMBER, especially a talented artist like IZZIYANA SUHAIMI!

We love how mixed media artist Izziyana has weaved and brought a merger to the worlds of illustrations and embroidery into such a stunning work of art; blurring the lines between craft and fine art, as well as collapsing the boundaries between traditional and popular cultures.

The artist, whose work is entitled Friends to Keep You Warm by Izziyana Suhaimi has graced the covers of CATALOG magazine and has since been exhibited in the Philippines, Taiwan, France and Japan.

What piques our interest is how she centers her works around her attraction to how this time-consuming aspect of her craft-based technique runs counter to the mass-production centered age of today. Most importantly, her work of art examines how this particular mishmash manifests itself in modern times, especially concerning modern youths, an intriguing concept that spurs her creative senses.

More recently, her collaboration with emerging homegrown fashion concept label, L’ile Aux Ashby by Rayson Tan, has wowed the crowd with it’s intricate details and eye-popping colours. The end results featured Izziyana’s unique illustrations and an individualistic collection of graphical collar pieces by L’ile Aux Ashby, coming your way in mid-2012!

The sheer beauty of this collaborative work is also the center piece at the ongoing SURFACE 1°22 exhibition Pens & Needles, at LASALLE College of the Arts from 16 February to 2 March 2012, garnering likes and praises amongst the visitors at the exhibition.

Some even labelled her work as an echo of famed Mexican painter Frida Kahlo’s self-portraits!

PLUS, if you like her work as much as we do, be sure to check out Izziyana’s newest series of works, entitled “Looms in our bones” at Don’t Forget to Remember, a multi-artist visual exhibition presented by the i-AM 2012 Festival, which will run from 1 – 9 March 2012 daily from 10am – 10 pm at The Arts House‘s Print Gallery!

This exhibition will be a journey of self-exploration as it hones and shines the spotlight on the visual arts by Izziyana herself and 3 other local artists, namely TR853-1, Hafidz Senor and Kamarule.

And an introduction to her series, entitled “Looms in our bones”:

“The looms in our bones” excavates the rich embroidery tradition of various cultures and examines them within portraits of women. This project was borne out of a sense that we are quickly losing touch and forgetting the knowledge of our cultures, our heritage and traditions. The modern culture is becoming more homogenised and there is a rapidly growing interaction, exchange, adaptation, adoption, alteration and rejection of traditional practices and knowledge. There is a sense of mystery and intrigue in traditional embroidery, it is a visual code that only those in the know have the knowledge to decipher. It is precisely this sense of loss, mystery and secrecy that “The looms in our bones” aims to explore.

– Izziyana Suhaimi

We are so excited to see “Looms in my bones” by Izziyana Suhaimi during the exhibition, and all of her future works!