Mahfuza Shammy Rahman
This patriarchal world is a messy chaotic place and painting is my struggle to exist while making sense of the anger I feel everyday. I think about the mental turmoil caused by the absence of inherited income, lack of access to meaningful education, having to deplete your inner reserves to gain basic universal needs such as food and housing, internalized racism and sexism, sometimes even perpetuated by women. The overwhelming grief I feel for these things is the backbone of my work. I was raised in a violent and abusive household in Sunset Park, Brooklyn and then Woodhaven, Queens to be an obedient servant to my future husband and through this oppression my need to express myself materialized. In spite of that my belief in humanity and the power of nature to heal remains strong. It is present in my use of silhouettes and landscapes where water and earth peacefully share the border. With bright bold colors I strive to entice joy through the brooding denseness of modern day colonialism, contrasting jagged brush strokes and dripping paint within fine taped lines echoing maps of silenced, displaced peoples. I work in acrylic and oils.
By occupying space as a Bangladeshi immigrant woman in the art world I hope to inspire a world with more compassion and create sanctuary for those who feel they have nowhere to turn, as I once was.
Madelyn's Mural
Brain Bleed- acrylic on canvas 30" x 30"
Range Reflections - acrylic on canvas 30" x 30"
Mine Chasm - acrylic on wood 24" x 24"
Grief - oil on wood 15" x 24"
4 Pack Crayons - oil on canvas 38" x 48"
Drops on Sacred Plain - oil on canvas 18" x 18"
A Drowning - oil on canvas 24" x 36"
Lovesong - oil on canvas 24" by 24"
Weightless Buoyancy - oil on canvas 24" by 24"
Tidal Wave - oil on canvas 5" by 7"
Orbital Plain- acrylic on canvas 30" x 30"
Ladybirds - oil on canvas 30" x 40"
Childhood - oil on wood 24" x 36"
Rosy Roe- acrylic on canvas 30" x 30"
Trojan Horse - oil on canvas 30" x 40"
Untitled - oil on canvas 38" x 48"
American Suicide - oil on canvas 15" x 30"
Rotations- acrylic on canvas 30" x 30"
"I See Skies of Blue"- acrylic on canvas 30" x 30"
Lime Rock Light - oil on canvas 20" x 20"
Rooftop - oil on panel 18" x 24"
Freefall - oil on panel 18" x 18"
Charlie Boy - oil on wood 24" x 36"
Screentime - oil on canvas 12" x 24"
Destroying Mars - oil on canvas 15" x 30"
Scream - oil on canvas 15" x 30"
Light up the Sky - oil on canvas 15" x 30"
On the Other Side - oil and latex on canvas 30" x 40"
First Annual Woodhaven Fall Artist Showcase
Mandala Making @ King Manor Museum Traditions Festival
Madelyn's Mural
Abstract Landscapes @ Dancewave Brooklyn
Abstract Landscapes @ King Manor Museum
Women in 'Art' Haven
Solo Exhibition @ Geordie's Joint
Artist Showcase @ Woodhaven Cultural Society
