White outlines of figures in various poses on black paper. At the upper right is a tangled clump of figures. To the left are repeating images of a figure falling.

Sophiya Khwaja

Big Bang Away (Free)

Maker

Sophiya Khwaja (Pakistani, b. 1982 in Pakistan), (RISD MFA 2007, Printmaking)

Title

Big Bang Away (Free)

Year

2007

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Dimensions

61 x 45.7 cm (24 x 18 inches) (approx.)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

titled, verso; signed, verso; dated "07" verso; numbered verso

Identification

Edition

2/4

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Gift of Paula and Leonard Granoff

Object Number

2014.104.15

Type

Exhibition History

On Paper
Gifts from Paula and Leonard Granoff
Oct 29, 2022 – Apr 16, 2023

Label copy

Rather like dance notation, lines between points overlay this mass of figures. A figure at the left breaks away, its multiple iterations seeming to track a fall. Trained in South Asian classical dance, artist Sophiya Khwaja represents emotion through the body. This work may suggest the sense of safety within numbers and the excitement and risk of pulling away.

Inspired by comic-book illustration, Khwaja’s linework tapers and swells with the contours of the body. She says this approach “is somewhat exaggerated and deliberate, making it a vital tool in the first step away from the reality.”

–Jan Howard, Houghton P. Metcalf Jr. Curator of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs

Image use

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Tombstone

Sophiya Khwaja (Pakistani, b. 1982 in Pakistan)
Big Bang Away (Free), 2007
Etching on spit bite on black paper
61 x 45.7 cm (24 x 18 inches) (approx.)
Gift of Paula and Leonard Granoff 2014.104.15

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