Ruby Chishti - Narratives of Memory: A conversation with Time

Ruby Chishti is a Pakistani artist who works in mixed media and assemblage of found objects as a way of expressing her experience and memory. I learned of her and her work when she was invited to speak recently at Sacramento State University’s Art Department Symposium. 

Ruby Chishti speaking at the CSUS art symposium 2019.

 During the planning stages she was discussed as the guest speaker for the event and how she is an upper-class woman of Pakistani culture, and how her art is very touching. One person said that they really like “that kind of art”. Sight unseen, I wondered just what “that kind of art” might be or look like. Based on this description I imagined the work to be psychedelic, or maybe boldly abstract. Being surrounded by feminists I also imagined it would be something like dolls and doilies, maybe a few pairs of pantyhose thrown in.

When I did actually get to see Chishti’s work for the first time I was impressed with it. Mostly it was nothing abstract, but very touching and sentimental. During her lecture she talked about how she has been influenced by politics and her early upbringing. Chishti is not a formally trained artist, but seems to be what some might consider a more traditional artist with a gift to render and express as a medium.

In her work Chishti explores and embodies themes such as gender discrimination, gender disparity, isolation, strain, architecture, structure, memory, and dexterity. There is what she calls the “Isness of Being”, which is the actual factual focus on the reality of being. As a Pakistani woman Chishti speaks as a witness to history and remembers and the assassination of Benazir Bhutto in her work titled “There is no Hero” from 2009. My earliest memory of Bhutto was when a classmate spoke of her during her “current events” presentation. Chishti also recalled how she was inspired when she saw a person wearing a “Free Hugs” sign at a BART station. She says she began to ponder the idea and the cause(s) behind it.

The materials Chishti uses to create her artwork are things like hand-down clothes that recall and represent her childhood when she made and altered her own clothing, fabric, fallen twigs for their malleability and symbolism, faucets, and also things like pantyhose to shape figures reminiscent of people and her memories of home in Pakistan. When looking at Chishti’s work I found her sculptures and symbols to be emotive and universal in there depictions. In her architecture dress piece speaks of feeling tall like a skyscraper, as Erykah Badu also sings about. I can only wonder if feeling tall is something to aspire to.

One thing I found particularly interesting during Ms. Chishti’s lecture was how she recalled moving to California in 2002 and found the adjustment to be difficult. She talked about how she worked in an office environment and how the workday and pace of U.S. business was particularly strenuous by comparison of what some people are used to. I think such a statement in a symposium setting is commendable coming from a woman and a person from South Asia. This is particularly due to the fact that work and accountability are very contemporary to society. Chishti’s recollection of such experience was somewhat matter-of-fact when speaking about her topics, but it is one that is pertinent to many people of California. This workday strain is particularly important as it is at the root of society’s dysfunction and does not necessarily guarantee wealth, fulfillment, love, romance, happiness, beauty, etc. The symposium itself was based on how people conceptualize and record time, but in the modern world time is mostly about employment and wages. It should be noted that art and activism tend to take place on weekends.