Mequitta Ahuja

Mequitta Ahuja casts herself as a character in a mythic drama in this series of drawings. Seen together, these works form a narrative about a battle with herself and her ultimate triumph. Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Ahuja references a variety of cultural traditions, including the arts of Africa, Asia, and America.

In these self-portraits she suggests that identity is not only fluid, but that it represents a layering of different guises—both real and fictional, historic and contemporary. Her work also demonstrates an interest in different types of marks and materials. She employs hand stamps, paints with brushes, and draws directly onto the collaged ground. A winner of the 2011 Louis Comfort Tiffany Award, Ahuja has recently been an artist-in-residence at the Studio Museum in Harlem and at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore.

→ Mequitta Ahuja's artist statement

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Dream Sequence: Winged I
Enamel, acrylic, and glitter on stamped and collaged vellum, 2011
Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris, France
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Meecoo Mocoo
Acrylic, colored pencil, and enamel on stamped and collaged vellum, 2011
Courtesy of the artist
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Mocoonama
Enamel, acrylic, and glitter on stamped and collaged vellum, 2011
Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris, France
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Royal Ease
Enamel, acrylic, and glitter on stamped and collaged vellum, 2011
Courtesy of the artist
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National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution

November 16, 2012 through August 18, 2013

Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock

October 25, 2013 through February 9, 2014