Mandy El-Sayegh Malaysian–British, b. 1985
Burning Square: freedom of goods, 2023
Oil and acrylic on canvas with collaged and silkscreened elements, joss paper and gold leaf
256 x 138 cm
100 3/4 x 54 3/8 in
100 3/4 x 54 3/8 in
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Blessings: Burning Square series Mandy El-Sayegh’s Burning Square works are part of her ongoing Blessings series. This series was inspired by Chinese blessing scrolls crafted by El-Sayegh’s uncle, a calligrapher....
Blessings: Burning Square series
Mandy El-Sayegh’s Burning Square works are part of her ongoing Blessings series. This series was inspired by Chinese blessing scrolls crafted by El-Sayegh’s uncle, a calligrapher. Imbuing the work with a talismanic quality, these scrolls were originally collaged onto the artworks. However, as the series evolved, El-Sayegh replaced the scrolls with gold leaf squares. For her, these ‘burning squares’ are akin to joss paper, incense paper made to burn as offerings in Chinese ancestral worship. In precarious times, the gold square becomes a symbol of talismanic protection, a will for fortune and luck. It also represents the obscuring of archives. When there is unrest, historical records are often burned or fragmented to maintain state narratives. Here, the gold square becomes a holding device for such records, and the painting an archive that can be burned at any moment.
Media fragments such as newspapers and magazines, which are characteristic of El-Sayegh’s work, are heavily masked within these works. Abstracted forms become the focal point–gold squares, fishnet kufiyah patterns and silkscreened grids. Here, obfuscation becomes a means to remain visible.
The series was conceived around the Lunar New Year, where red is used frequently to connote health, wealth, and happiness. In this exhibition it is paired with a dramatic blood-red floor, lending profound ambiguity to the colour’s preponderance in the works.
Mandy El-Sayegh’s Burning Square works are part of her ongoing Blessings series. This series was inspired by Chinese blessing scrolls crafted by El-Sayegh’s uncle, a calligrapher. Imbuing the work with a talismanic quality, these scrolls were originally collaged onto the artworks. However, as the series evolved, El-Sayegh replaced the scrolls with gold leaf squares. For her, these ‘burning squares’ are akin to joss paper, incense paper made to burn as offerings in Chinese ancestral worship. In precarious times, the gold square becomes a symbol of talismanic protection, a will for fortune and luck. It also represents the obscuring of archives. When there is unrest, historical records are often burned or fragmented to maintain state narratives. Here, the gold square becomes a holding device for such records, and the painting an archive that can be burned at any moment.
Media fragments such as newspapers and magazines, which are characteristic of El-Sayegh’s work, are heavily masked within these works. Abstracted forms become the focal point–gold squares, fishnet kufiyah patterns and silkscreened grids. Here, obfuscation becomes a means to remain visible.
The series was conceived around the Lunar New Year, where red is used frequently to connote health, wealth, and happiness. In this exhibition it is paired with a dramatic blood-red floor, lending profound ambiguity to the colour’s preponderance in the works.
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