Graduate Associate
Masters of Fine Arts Candidate
Graduate Program in Visual Arts and Art History, York University
Research Keywords:
Climate crisis; environmental justice; nature; human life; Post Humanism; human body; climate change; Global South, biomimicry
Research Diaspora(s):
South Asian Diaspora
Asma Sultana is an interdisciplinary artist who uses her hair and thumbprints as mediums to explore her identity within the contexts of time and space. She conceptualizes her autobiographical work through these unique forms of expression. Asma has organized and curated numerous solo art exhibitions and has participated in various group exhibitions across different countries. Her work has been featured in both print and digital media and is included in many private collections.
Identifying as Bangladeshi-British, Asma currently works in Toronto. She has received training in Fine Arts and Art History in Bangladesh, England, and Canada. Additionally, she studied Art History at York University in Canada and Oxford University in England.
Artist Statement:
In my autobiographical work, I explore my identity as a diasporic immigrant, displaced dreamer, and minority freethinker. My creative process revolves around understanding myself, my culture, and my place in the world. I construct, deconstruct, and reconstruct my life experiences through the lens of both Eastern and Western perspectives.
I use my uprooted hair as a thread for embroidery, creating dresses, patterns, and portraits. Instead of traditional tools, I draw with ink using my thumbs and fingers. I also incorporate used objects from my daily life, modifying them with strands of my stored hair to give my biological existence a place in my art. This meticulous collection and preservation process feels like a mindful ritual.
Hair is a biomaterial filled with DNA, symbolizing my self-portrait. The way hair falls mirrors the natural processes of life, such as leaves falling from trees and seeds dispersing. Textiles and embroidery are vital to Bangladeshi cultural heritage. My work pays homage to this history while adding a contemporary twist, reflecting the legacy of storytelling I inherited from my grandmother.
Ultimately, my multidisciplinary approach combines various media and concepts to capture the complexity of modern life across time and space.