MIRIAM AHMED: SANDOLOGY
/MIRIAM AHMED: SANDOLOGY
April 5 – August 23, 2024
Potomac Science Center, George Mason University
Woodbridge, VA
Curated by Yassmin Salem and Donald Russell
Imagine: A ribboned vista of ocean water, fluffy white clouds in cyan skies, gentle waves inviting you in for a dip, an mini-umbrellaed piña colada in your hand, and the delightful feel of sand between your toes – brown gravelly sand filled with jagged shell fragments. Wait, what?
The Sandology acrylic on canvas mixed media series consists of sands I’ve collected from beaches I’ve traveled to. The idea for this series started early – I collected my first specimen of sand to use in my artwork as a teenager in Trinidad and declared sand “the best thing to make collages with” in a local newspaper article.
The desire to work with sand naturally evolved into the need to showcase the visual properties of sand and convey the reason for my appreciation for the raw medium. As my collection grew with my travels, I gained the ability to align them side-by-side which led to an emergent study of sand. The artworks juxtapose these sands and allow the viewer to compare varieties from geographical locations in terms of geological composition, grain size, color, and texture, and weigh the validity of preconceived notions of beauty.
Sandology is a statement of inclusion – a challenge to the confined appreciation of idyllic white-sand beaches and an elevation of those that naturally occur in gloriously abundant hues and grains.
Installation Views
About Miriam Ahmed
Dr. Miriam Ahmed is an Assistant Professor of graphic design at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA, assigned to the Mason Korea campus for spring-fall 2024. She delivered the Beatrice Warde Memorial Lecture for the St Bride Foundation in 2020, presented at ATypI and TypeCon, and was an AIGA DC SHINE mentor. Dr. Ahmed served on the Broward County Cultural Council grant panel and the Advisory Review Panel for the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. Her publications focus on ethics and responsibility in design including: “Minority, Millennial Graphic Designers Say No to the ‘Road to Hell’” in Design and Culture 12 (2020), “Perspectives On Responsible Design Among Minority, Millennial Graphic Designers” in The International Journal of Design in Society 12 (2018), and the essay “Minority Designers – Leading the Charge Toward Responsible Design” in Citizen Designer: Perspectives on Design Responsibility (Second Edition) edited by Steven Heller and Véronique Vienne (2018). She has co-curated virtual 3D exhibitions and exhibited her work at annual faculty exhibitions. She previously taught graphic design at Nova Southeastern University, Howard University, MICA, and at the American University in Dubai, UAE. Dr. Ahmed was a Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) Rising Star. She received her BFA and MFA in Graphic Design, and her doctorate in Mass Communications and Media Studies at Howard University, Washington DC.