On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 virus a global pandemic. Uncertain how long the pandemic would last or how threatening it would be to American citizens; each day, the artist, Ruhee Maknojia would stamp one red flower for every American life lost to the virus. The stamped flowers symbolically illustrate human fragility. Eventually, the data collection process transformed into an art installation titled "One Flower| One Life."
"One Flower | One Life" is an installation of parchment paper that hangs from floor to ceiling. Each paper chronologically displays flowers for every American life lost to COVID-19 and a date marking the number of individuals who passed on a particular day. The project is here to help viewers grapple with the magnitude of how much space 800,000+ small stamped flowers can occupy and what that might mean for those who experience the installation.
The number 800,000+ isn’t easy to physically visualize, especially when speaking about human lives. The art installation plays between the enormity of the number 800,000+ and the fragility of the human body.
Ruhee Maknojia is a Houston-based artist. She was born and raised in the United States in a culturally Indo-Pakistani home. Through the lens of a multicultural experience, she views aesthetic choice. Empowered by the concept of “tradition” that appears stagnant, but in practice, ever-shifting to meet contemporary life demands, her conceptual research and art practice has developed around what she calls ‘tradition as a form’- those forces and functions that shape contemporary value systems. Maknojia’s work is influenced by the aesthetics and philosophies of Indo-American culture. She draws from this niche world to realign social and traditional relations to raise more significant and global questions about power, ethics, and values.
Following the opening reception, the exhibit will be on display until April 30.
On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 virus a global pandemic. Uncertain how long the pandemic would last or how threatening it would be to American citizens; each day, the artist, Ruhee Maknojia would stamp one red flower for every American life lost to the virus. The stamped flowers symbolically illustrate human fragility. Eventually, the data collection process transformed into an art installation titled "One Flower| One Life."
"One Flower | One Life" is an installation of parchment paper that hangs from floor to ceiling. Each paper chronologically displays flowers for every American life lost to COVID-19 and a date marking the number of individuals who passed on a particular day. The project is here to help viewers grapple with the magnitude of how much space 800,000+ small stamped flowers can occupy and what that might mean for those who experience the installation.
The number 800,000+ isn’t easy to physically visualize, especially when speaking about human lives. The art installation plays between the enormity of the number 800,000+ and the fragility of the human body.
Ruhee Maknojia is a Houston-based artist. She was born and raised in the United States in a culturally Indo-Pakistani home. Through the lens of a multicultural experience, she views aesthetic choice. Empowered by the concept of “tradition” that appears stagnant, but in practice, ever-shifting to meet contemporary life demands, her conceptual research and art practice has developed around what she calls ‘tradition as a form’- those forces and functions that shape contemporary value systems. Maknojia’s work is influenced by the aesthetics and philosophies of Indo-American culture. She draws from this niche world to realign social and traditional relations to raise more significant and global questions about power, ethics, and values.
Following the opening reception, the exhibit will be on display until April 30.
On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 virus a global pandemic. Uncertain how long the pandemic would last or how threatening it would be to American citizens; each day, the artist, Ruhee Maknojia would stamp one red flower for every American life lost to the virus. The stamped flowers symbolically illustrate human fragility. Eventually, the data collection process transformed into an art installation titled "One Flower| One Life."
"One Flower | One Life" is an installation of parchment paper that hangs from floor to ceiling. Each paper chronologically displays flowers for every American life lost to COVID-19 and a date marking the number of individuals who passed on a particular day. The project is here to help viewers grapple with the magnitude of how much space 800,000+ small stamped flowers can occupy and what that might mean for those who experience the installation.
The number 800,000+ isn’t easy to physically visualize, especially when speaking about human lives. The art installation plays between the enormity of the number 800,000+ and the fragility of the human body.
Ruhee Maknojia is a Houston-based artist. She was born and raised in the United States in a culturally Indo-Pakistani home. Through the lens of a multicultural experience, she views aesthetic choice. Empowered by the concept of “tradition” that appears stagnant, but in practice, ever-shifting to meet contemporary life demands, her conceptual research and art practice has developed around what she calls ‘tradition as a form’- those forces and functions that shape contemporary value systems. Maknojia’s work is influenced by the aesthetics and philosophies of Indo-American culture. She draws from this niche world to realign social and traditional relations to raise more significant and global questions about power, ethics, and values.
Following the opening reception, the exhibit will be on display until April 30.