HANEEFAH ADAM

Artist Statement

When I became a mother, my perspective on life changed alongside my art—which, of course, no one could have foreseen. Motherhood heightened my awareness of identity, resilience, and the delicate balance between visibility and concealment. This shift naturally wove itself into my artistic practice, where I explore the intricate layers of selfhood, representation, and transformation.

Embroidery, an intimate and meditative process, holds a deeply personal significance in my work. My earliest memory of stitching was tacking my name onto my school uniform, a way of ensuring that what was mine would not be lost. But long before I could understand the weight of that act, I experienced stitching, not of fabric, but of flesh. These experiences shape my understanding of embroidery as both a method of repair and a means of storytelling. Each stitch becomes an act of care, preservation, and reflection, binding fragments of memory into something whole.

My current body of work further interrogates the concept of masking, drawing from my experience as a mother, embracing the diverse ways my children see and experience the world. Through sculptures and masks, I examine the tension between authenticity and societal expectations, exploring how individuals, particularly within my cultural context, navigate life’s complexities by wearing metaphorical masks. Mental health, often shrouded in silence, finds expression in my work, where traditional and contemporary materials merge to provoke reflection on what it means to be seen, understood, and accepted. Motherhood has also being a journey of self discovery and at its core, a call to empathy, a bridge between form and narrative. It invites viewers to confront their own biases and assumptions, to engage with the unspoken, and to recognise the resilience embedded in each thread, stitch, and sculpted form.