69, string curtain, steel ring, prayer carpets, dowel, rod

Igshaan Adams’ work looks at complex themes of race, religion and sexuality, stemming in particular from the artist’s own experience growing up in South Africa, and his current identity as homosexual and a practicing Muslim.

I am home, round carpet, string curtain, wooden ring, wire, thread, silk roses, acrylic glue

The artist works frequently in traditional textiles such as Muslim prayer rugs, and in at least one performance, a burial shroud which is wrapped around the artist by his father. I love the way these works interact with the gallery space, where the often brightly coloured and intricately patterned pieces of carpet and cloth become intensely amplified by the stark, white walls on which they are placed.

Where some artists use scraps and samples of cloth to explore connections, in Adams' works the cloth is frequently in the process of unraveling, whether attached to a mostly-intact tapestry and falling to the floor or hanging from the ceiling already in a state of disarray. These seem to express to the process, either of deterioration, or of uncovering the reality behind a façade. 

Please Remember II, performance