Hand Embroidery Textile Art - Student

The Belly Monsters
Wajiha Akhtar’s ‘The Belly Monsters’, project originally inspired by Pica Disorder. This is a rare condition where people ingest substances that are non edible. Pica is a serious problem
that can cause harm to the body. However, Wajiha is responding by raising awareness of this serious condition by taking humours approach.
She developed the ‘The Belly Monster’ project by first creating a fiction comic story about a boy who ate the London City including the buildings and humans. The things he ate
turned into monstrous characters who built a city in the boy’s belly. These character draw on real life personalities and celebrities, who occupy a complex fictional social hierarchy. As
the monsters are being from different tribes the project is also about celebrating diversity and differences.
The collection resembles gothic rave, as the colour pallet mainly consists of dark colours with neon yellow, she also adds primary colours to keep it dynamic.
From the comic book Wajiha has created hand made broaches of the characters. The collection comprises of hundreds of beads and sequins sewn together with traditional cording
techniques that usually used for gold work and Wajiha’s signature slimy looking beads..
TEXTILE ARTS
STUDENT CATEGORY
WAJIHA AKHTAR