An Oklahoma gallery invited 3 artists to make 'Off the Wall' work — here's what they did

Associate Curator Pablo Barrera was being literal when he named his latest third-floor exhibit at Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center "Off the Wall."

"We had a lot of things that were up against the wall — a lot of 2-D work, a lot of prints — and the third-floor space is just so unbelievably dynamic. ... We started thinking about things that were not directly on the wall or adhered to the wall, and hence the title, hence the idea," Barrera said.

"I thought, 'Well, how can I find three installation artists that are not just arbitrarily thrown together, but rather have thematic elements of their work and ideas that mesh into each other in a really fascinating way that speaks to how interesting Oklahoma is as an artistic sphere?'"

He recruited female artists — Sarah Ahmad, of Tulsa; Marium Rana, of Tahlequah; and Romy Owens, of Enid — to create distinctive large-scale works that merge traditional techniques with modern machinery. The three installations are on view through June 20 in the Mary LeFlore Clements Oklahoma Gallery, where visitors can not only see them but actually, on certain occasions, physically interact with them.

"This is such a fascinating combination of artists because they each speak to each other while simultaneously being very careful to be cemented in their own grounding as an artist in practice and in their own personalities. And I think it really shows in the works," Barrera said.

Here's how the three Oklahoma-based artists took the "Off the Wall" concept and created distinctive works of art.

More: A rising Oklahoma star just debuted atop the country music charts — Get to know Zach Bryan

Sarah Ahmad carves Pakistani heritage into intricate installation

Originally from Pakistan, Ahmad created her dramatic "Jaali" from screen carvings of Islamic geometric patterns, representing her cultural heritage. In Indian and Islamic architecture, a "jaali" is latticed screen, usually boasting the types ornamental patterns in her installation.

"The pieces used in this installation are leftover pieces from 11 different installations that were all created from the same set of eight to 10 screens I designed in 2012 and 2013. I repainted the pieces and reassembled them into new forms," Ahmad explained in an email to The Oklahoman.

"As an immigrant, parts of me belong in many places, but I am never fully rooted in any one place. Through multiple displacements, mine is a fragmented identity. But it’s also an evolving hybrid of parts I choose to keep or break away from."

Painted brilliant crimson, her sprawling installation is accompanied by a quote from the 13th-century Persian poet Rumi: "Only from the heart can you touch the sky."

"As the life I had built as an immigrant to the United States fell apart, I broke the screens I had designed in 2012, reassembling them into new structures. At a time of trauma and loss, the reconfigured forms were metaphors for life rebuilt, of creating new realities from broken parts, evoking hope (and) vision for a future transcendence," Ahmad said.

"This iteration of 'Jaali' is one of a series of works that I've done here in Oklahoma — with an increasing emphasis on community engagement. I'm currently working on a project called 'Stories from the Core,' a public art work that partners with Oklahoma Public Libraries and engages the extraordinary land of our state parks in eco-therapeutic meditations. This explicitly social emphasis in my artistic practice has been a direct response to the need for collective healing in the face of COVID-19 and of the social and environmental upheaval that shapes our current landscape."

More: Husband-and-wife potters crafting art, family and community in historic Paseo district

The 2019-2020 Tulsa Artist Fellow's "Off the Wall" work already throws dramatic shadows on the gallery walls, but as part of Oklahoma Contemporary's "Thursday Night Late" events, when the arts center stays open until 9 p.m., visitors can use flashlights to interact with her "Jaali."

"Interactive art installations engage visitors to discover the layers of work from multiple perspectives and create their own meanings from the experience," she said. "They become active collaborators, curating their own experience of it."

Marium Rana's massive painted scrolls share scenes of three states

A Pakistani-American artist, Rana was born on Long Island, New York, grew up in Florida and has lived in Oklahoma since August 2019. Her "Awaiting Arrival" is a set of three massive painted scrolls suspended from the gallery ceiling.

"The piece in this show reflects the three different American states I've lived in and three different time periods in Pakistan (the past, present, and future)," she said in an email.

Another scroll, titled "A Place to Call Home," gracefully curls away from one wall in the gallery. Across all four paper panels, her artwork reflects her South Asian heritage, from the ancient yet evolving Mughal miniature painting tradition to the colorful contemporary truck art.

"The trucks there, no matter what they're carrying — it could be a garbage truck, it could be a passenger bus, it could be carrying sand or gravel or what have you — these truck drivers themselves pay to get these trucks painted. ... To me, it's just like, 'There's a work of art that's just driving by; it's the craziest thing.' It's like seeing art on the moon for me. There's a lot of color in Pakistan," Rana told The Oklahoman in a 2021 interview.

Her kaleidoscopic scrolls incorporate acrylic paint, watercolor, ink, vinyl, decorative paper, embroidery, silver leaf, metallic film and pages from children's books.

"I would love guests to make connections in these works with their personal, individual experiences. I always find that I learn more about the world when I am invited to look at it through the perspective of others," she said.

During "Thursday Night Late," visitors can use mirrors to better spy all the imagery tucked into the folds and corners of Rana's scrolls, from a peacock and a chicken to a pair of sunglasses and a set of dice.

"I hope that people have a one-on-one experience with my murals, one that cannot be replicated and honors the significance of a small powerful image that one can happen upon when they are rotating a compact mirror in their hand," she said. "This felt like a sincere way to bridge the divide between large-than-life works and small, intricate works."

Keeping the 'Momentum': Young Oklahoma artists get the chance to shine in annual spring showcase

Romy Owens is eager for visitors to unravel her installation

Known for her striking large-scale works, Owens used pale polyester thread and nails to create a precise fiber installation titled "Nothing Can Be Perfect," which is tucked into an angular corner of the gallery.

"I'm impressed the Oklahoma Contemporary docents have been able to protect 'Nothing Can Be Perfect' throughout the run of 'Off the Wall.' That's not an easy accomplishment," Owens said in an email.

The straight-lined string structure is described as a Western riff on traditional Asian mandala patterns.

"'Nothing Can Be Perfect' was created to respond to the architecture of the space where it lives. As a reflection of my personality, it mirrors my strengths in organization and my humor. As a reflection of my cultural background, the installation is a series of cold, emotionless lines attempting to create reason and purpose," Owens said.

"As a reflection of my artistic voice, well, it's very much of my voice in scale, color and process; however, it's very angular and oppositional and sterile, which feels at odds with what I normally intend to communicate with my work."

At 6 p.m. June 9 as part of "Thursday Night Late," visitors will be invited to cut, slice and unravel Owens' installation in a planned "deconstruction."

"I love that there will be a deconstruction because I always have found the work more interesting when it's unraveled and messy," Owens said.

"What I hope people will take from this experience is a renewed or empowered confidence in risk taking, even when the outcome is unknown. I imagine I will enjoy the piece post-deconstruction more because the transformation from rigid to messy (is) like that feeling of taking off tight clothes at the end of the day."

'OFF THE WALL' 

When: Through June 20.  

Where: Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center, 11 NW 11. 

'Nothing Can Be Perfect' Deconstruction: 6 p.m. June 9. 

Admission: Free. 

Information: https://oklahomacontemporary.org.  

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma gallery invites 3 artists to take their work 'Off the Wall'