Azzah Sultan received her BFA from Parsons School of Design and her MFA at Washington State University. She was born in Abu Dhabi and is a Malaysian native who grew up in Malaysia, Saudi, Finland, Bahrain and has spent seven years living in America working on her artistic practice. She has had her art exhibited in The New School, S.A.D. Gallery, The Bushwick Collective, BUFU Studios, The Ely Center, Sotheby’s Institute of Art, Blackfish Gallery, Chase Gallery, Terrain 12, KMAC Gallery. She was a panelist for Muslim Women Reclaim Their Identities at Amherst College and a guest lecturer at Chautauqua Institution. She is exhibiting her solo show at Trotter & Sholer gallery, currently on view till Sept 27th at 168 Suffolk St NY. While living in New York she was a program coordinator at Triangle Arts Association and an artist assistant for Artist of Color Block. Before starting her masters she worked as a graphic designer at the Islamic Art Museum in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
ARTIST STATEMENT
I use my experiences of being a brown Muslim woman to highlight stereotypes ingrained within my community through installation strategies. My body of work debunks cultural myths created by society and explores stigmas related to my identity. I aim to give authority to myself in my work by being the performer, the author, and the subject. I play on the idea of the self by exploring my relationship with my parents, language and my Malaysian nationality. Being an immigrant in a country can shape and form the way you live your life; you struggle to identify whether or not you are a part of your environment or an outsider. Traditional garments, passing down of familial lineage and practices are what I am currently interested in exploring my artistic practice.
Contact: azzahsultan@gmail.com
I use my experiences of being a brown Muslim woman to highlight stereotypes ingrained within my community through installation strategies. My body of work debunks cultural myths created by society and explores stigmas related to my identity. I aim to give authority to myself in my work by being the performer, the author, and the subject. I play on the idea of the self by exploring my relationship with my parents, language and my Malaysian nationality. Being an immigrant in a country can shape and form the way you live your life; you struggle to identify whether or not you are a part of your environment or an outsider. Traditional garments, passing down of familial lineage and practices are what I am currently interested in exploring my artistic practice.
Contact: azzahsultan@gmail.com