Mequitta Ahuja

Mequitta Ahuja casts herself as a character in a mythic drama in this series of drawings. Seen together, these works form a narrative about a battle with herself and her ultimate triumph. Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Ahuja references a variety of cultural traditions, including the arts of Africa, Asia, and America.

In these self-portraits she suggests that identity is not only fluid, but that it represents a layering of different guises—both real and fictional, historic and contemporary. Her work also demonstrates an interest in different types of marks and materials. She employs hand stamps, paints with brushes, and draws directly onto the collaged ground. A winner of the 2011 Louis Comfort Tiffany Award, Ahuja has recently been an artist-in-residence at the Studio Museum in Harlem and at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore.