Jason Seife

Carpets were a large part of his childhood growing up with immigrant parents of Middle Eastern descent. Seife recreates these old weavings by tediously painting themon canvas in colours and mediums that were not normally used in their origin. The creation of these works is both a therapeutic and a spiritual process, being able to channel his obsession with detail into the intricate geometry and compositions of the carpets allows the artist to find himself working hours on end without lifting his brush.

What initially drew him to these works was not only the aesthetic but the dense history and meaning behind the imagery. The way the weavers were able to link each rug’s particular pattern, palette, and style with a specific and identifiable geographic area or nomadic tribe really stood out to him. Seife aims to mirror this practice with his take on the carpets by having each colour and pattern specifically correlate to what state of mind and emotion he was in while creating the specificwork, allowing him to be able to look back and see a chronological timeline of both his mental and emotional state embedded in the paintings. In doing so, Seife creates a language through shape and colour that is hidden in plain view.