Sarah Nsikak's patchworks
Art Crush #3: Meet this Brooklyn-based textile artist who works with deadstock fabric
Who?
Nigerian-American textile artist Sarah Nsikak is behind the clothing label La Réunion and creates patchwork artworks inspired by African proverbs and idioms. Her practice is inspired by Asafo flags from Ghana that are a sign of combativeness and by the patchwork Herero dresses from Namibia, that represent resilience. But the artist who grew up in Oklahoma also dives into the patchwork culture from the American ‘Bible Belt’.
Why?
I really like the directness of Nsikak’s quilted tapestries. The figurative elements are so simple, they are sometimes flirting with Matisse’s cut outs.
She started her career in the fashion world and the exorbitant amount of waste generated in this industry inspired a re-routing of fabrics back to her art practice. Her artworks (and her dresses!) are made exclusively using recycled material sourced from fashion designers based in New York.
She is excellent at making “family portraits” (you can see ours below!) and if you are interested in commissioning her a piece about your family, just reply to this email. ↩️
Price Range: $400 - 4000
💌 you can reply to this email for any acquisition inquiry/questions. 💌
More Details:
One of her patchwork dresses made under the label La Réunion was exhibited at The Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute in New York. (A Lexicon of Fashion, Curated by Andrew Bolton, September 2021 - September 2022)
Her folkloric tapestries have recently been exhibited at the ACE hotel in Manhattan and at Monument Gallery in Kingston, NY.
This coming fall, Sarah Nsikak will have a residency at Merci in Paris.
Her grandmother, who was a seamstress in Nigeria, taught her sewing as a kid.
🛒 shop 🛒: For my project Hayom (Judaica objects by contemporary artists), she made some stunning challah covers that consigned by Perrotin store in NYC and were featured in the New York Times! There is only one left :)