McLeavey Gallery

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Areez Katki

All My Books Have Faded Spines
Areez Katki, 2022
cotton embroidery on khadi, 580 x 1070 mm
Udvada
Areez Katki, 2018
cotton embroidery and antique mul (19th century) on Bombay Dyeing tea towel (c. 1940),, 530 x 525 mm
Dio Dispersion
Areez Katki, 2018
cotton embroidery and antique mul (19th century) on Bombay Dyeing tea towel (c. 1940), 530 x 510 mm
Keys In The Drawer
Areez Katki, 2022
cotton embroidery on khadi, 830 x 430 mm
Eyeteeth
Areez Katki, 2022
cotton embroidery on khadi, 830 x 430 mm
Musk (or the residual tenderness of a pillow)
Areez Katki, 2021
cotton embroidery on khadi handkerchief, 670 x 670 mm (framed)
Alcohol (a dance of birds as our vines ripen)
Areez Katki, 2021
cotton embroidery on khadi handkerchief, 670 x 670 mm (framed)

About Areez Katki

Although best known for his finely detailed, gestural textile works, it is the knowledge, histories and questions layered behind the stitches that render Areez Katki’s pieces not merely distinctive, but profound. His practice brings to mind the words of Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, who has warned against the “danger of a single story”.

Through his intertwined textile and writing practices, Katki tells tales of immense complexity, moving deftly across his chosen mediums to explore multi-threaded histories and identities, revealing the tangled complexity where each strand intersects with another to prove that a single story is not only dangerous, but impossible.

Katki’s poetic textile works often take the form of repurposed household textiles – handkerchiefs, tea towels, table runners, rugs – delicately stitched with brightly hued, wriggling geometric patterns, regularly displayed strung on a line like the most beautiful laundry. Sometimes his signature wiggles and chain-stitched curlicues swirl into more figurative images. 

In his oeuvre, we can locate tales of his Parsi ancestors, who fled Persia in the face of religious persecution and carried their ancient monotheistic faith of Zoroastrianism with them to Gujarat. We can find Katki himself, a queer child of the Parsi diaspora settled in East Auckland, returning to his birthplace of Mumbai to learn the tambour needle technique commonly used in commercial Parsi gara embroidery; following Parsi textile traditions to their origins in Iran, Gujarat and West Azerbaijan, learning the Parsi art of making torans (beaded valances) along the way.

But Katki’s work does not follow a linear story. By employing traditional mark-making processes – not just embroidery but also weaving, printmaking, staining – to depict intersectional aspects of his identity and the world around him, Katki’s work weaves history, culture, faith, gender and sexuality together, the intricacy of these relations reflected and made tangible through stitches and stains.

Steeped in so many stories, crafted with memory and lore, Katki’s artworks are unique, completely unlike anything else being produced in Aotearoa today.

His work has been been exhibited across Oceania, Asia, North America and Europe and is held in private and public collections around the world. Recent exhibition include Bildungsroman, Malcolm Smith Gallery-touring solo (2019-2021), Uncruising, Phoenix Athens (2019), History reserves but a few lines for you, Enjoy (2021) and There is no other home but this, Govett-Brewster (2022).

Selection of works

Chaharshanabeh Suri
Areez Katki, 2023
Cotton embroidery on handwoven cloth, 880 x 990 mm (framed)
Magi
Areez Katki, 2023
Cotton embroidery on handwoven cloth, 880 x 990 mm (framed)
Ashem Vohu
Areez Katki, 2023
Cotton embroidery on handwoven muslin, 640 x 640 mm (framed)
Yatha Ahu Vairyo
Areez Katki, 2023
Cotton embroidery on handwoven muslin, 640 x 640 mm (framed)
Above the waist: somatic movement one
Areez Katki, 2022
Cotton embroidery on overdyed cotton cummerbund, 950 x 470 mm (framed)
Below the waist: somatic movement two
Areez Katki, 2022
Cotton embroidery on overdyed cotton cummerbund, 950 x 470 mm (framed)
I. Perfumes are ready by the door
Areez Katki, 2023
Mixed media (watercolour, chalk, pastel, graphite) on Arches cotton paper, 400 x 400 mm (framed)
II. Some ribs are always soft
Areez Katki, 2023
Mixed media (watercolour, chalk, pastel, graphite) on Arches cotton paper, 400 x 400 mm (framed)
III. He’ll live in my bedroom in Ithaka
Areez Katki, 2023
Mixed media (watercolour, chalk, pastel, graphite, archival PVA, found paper) on Arches cotton paper, 400 x 400 mm (framed)
IV. Sherds for tomorrow
Areez Katki, 2023
Mixed media (watercolour, chalk, pastel, graphite) on Arches cotton paper, 400 x 400 mm (framed)
V. One day I will sit on the pavement
Areez Katki, 2023
Mixed media (watercolour, chalk, pastel, graphite) on Arches cotton paper, 400 x 400 mm (framed)
VI. Blaue Ziegel
Areez Katki, 2023
Mixed media (watercolour, chalk, pastel, graphite) on Arches cotton paper, 400 x 400 mm (framed)
VII. Milk from the lip of the fig
Areez Katki, 2023
Mixed media (watercolour, chalk, pastel, graphite, archival PVA, found paper) on Arches cotton paper, 400 x 400 mm (framed)
VIII. Macron to spell Āreez
Areez Katki, 2023
Mixed media (watercolour, chalk, graphite) on Arches cotton paper, 400 x 400 mm (framed)
IX. In the exodus I love you more
Areez Katki, 2023
Mixed media (watercolour, chalk, pastel, graphite, archival PVA, Tyvek) on Arches cotton paper, 400 x 400 mm (framed)
X. Window from the orchard of your shawl
Areez Katki, 2023
Mixed media (watercolour, chalk, pastel, graphite) on Arches cotton paper, 400 x 400 mm (framed)
XI. Kamanja
Areez Katki, 2023
Mixed media (watercolour, chalk, pastel, graphite) on Arches cotton paper , 400 x 400 mm (framed)

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