Chaotic, playful and unhinged at first sight, this sculpture consists of steel wool and cotton wool, packed into an irregular 250-metre ‘rope’ of keffiyeh fabric, and contorted catastrophically.
The connotations of keffiyeh, the black and white check cotton best known for its association with Palestine, have evolved dramatically over the years. From a simple scarf to a symbol of solidarity and a fashion accessory to the point of cliché, it’s also developed more notorious ‘terrorist’ overtones. It has become a powerful and enigmatic emblem that shifts its significance depending on its context.
The sculpture itself echoes that enigmatic nature in the ambiguity of its physical form: a flexible ‘intestinal’ structure, knotted and twisted as if attempting to devour itself, encountering the active moments of its past as it explores its own tangled and complex knotted structure. These knots may function as reminders of events and as measures of time.
Borrowed From the Shadows enables the viewer to think about the configuration and reconfiguration of the conflicts of mankind. This is relevant more than ever to the territorial, racial and religious frictions in foment today.
