Project : #whenwallsbecamebirds 2017 – July 2020 – ongoing
by Sehr Jalil
The idea is to let them fly away – to let them go…
This project is an ongoing experiment where I am inviting those of you who acquire a piece of it to became a part of it in the process. ‘when walls became birds’ is a second phase of a wall project installation
with customized greeting cards -its in the hope that these ‘walls’ (metaphor for these cards) can move where ever they have to.. creating pathways, changing directions, opening, falling #flying or even diluting... I INTEND TO CREATE A #map of/ for these walls once they’ve reached their DESTINATIONS…this is in faith that we the ‘human beings’ are beyond walls, borders and circumstance. I’ve also been sharing a few WWBB posts on my instagram and Facebook studio pages.
Project history :This installation came along when post USA elections, 2017, all I heard on national and international Television those days was the making and building of walls – I thought about the wall as a division, as an #opening, I thought about walls in the mind and heart and walls on digital online platforms.. walls of poems , art and literature, walls of revolutions, walls made and broken -Each ‘card/sculpture/painting’ , entails a wall : in #history #metaphor #smell #sense #vision or #mood . – The ‘which wall’ cards from the project /installation that I have shown here are a scape of walls and their being and not being through history and thoughts. The outside (back) of the cards comes from the #allegorical idea of “#mirror mirror on the wall…”
Note for those of you who wish to acquire one or more : the 50$ value(not inclusive of shipping) is a one time value which I kept in synch with and in honor of the #artistsupportpledge culture on Instagram. A trend/project by @matthewburrowsstudio. Where every 1000 $ I earn, I’ll spend 200$ to buy an other artist’s work.
This value will change and any of these pieces wont be available for acquisition/buying after September 2020. Also if you really wish to acquire one with some idea for barter/exchange instead of the 50$ price let me know about that too.
you can DM me on sehrjalilstudio instagram or facebook or email on sjkayani@gmail.com
Frame and display/keeping of the pieces is subject to your choice once they are with you. Frame as a sculpture or a painting, keep in a box or a book – whatever you want.
The third phase of the project will begin once all pieces have reached their destinations.
Photo Credits/art documentation : Natasha Zubair
Art medium :
Digital #collage mixed media on customized #greetingcards 6″x8″ inches each.
hovering in yellow 
back of card – random selection 
red wanted to be blue 
every wall is an artery and a sky 
prayers answered in a night time 
back of card – random selection 
swooshed alive 
can I stamp my face on your face ? 
there’s a rainbow under the tunnel 
built for the generations 
My snow is the same as your grass 
greens are better than fumes 
celestial mapping inside my ear 
who needed the staircase ? 
meeting behind the silver linings 
lavender is a signed treaty which got lost in the mountains 
I made a fountain of a tree 
melt when the time is good 
ocean inside the inkpot 
infinity grows in weeds 
the line of your mouth is a bluebird 
volcano brained and turquoise hearted 
back of card – random selection 
let them be born again under their own yellow sky 
a history in every color 
confiding in green 
fire cracked inside my heart 
can you buy me a golden sky 
thought islands for homeless people 
autumn is not fruitless 
falling is an illusion 
marooned 
a mountain lives inside the shirt that wasn’t ironed 
soul grid spirit brick 
cabbaged vows 
did you receive my flowers ? 
the girl who never left her valley 
every window is not a wall 
perfume is residue 
let the hearing be crazier than the calling 
outside / front text of all pieces 
how many ribbons were tied and bouquets kept ? 
back – random selection 
angels hovered over the walls 
flowers were heavy – stones weightless 
a space for a lantern 
does the child in you still climb walls ? 
a stranger on that journey 
roses on the tip of my heels 
zenith under the arch of your eyebrow 
the names were revealed in the deep end of the ocean 
the wires died the day you came 
she hid neon stories inside the bricks 
the art of falling in one piece 
forests grow in every foundation 
borrowing a little bit of your sky 
war found peace 
pink flamingoes finally found their their tree 
yellow and halo 
they didn’t watch what they needed to see 
i promise there’s joy on one side 
world peace is under your cuff 
heaven under my chin 
floating in your own white dreams 
you shred I thread 
furnace and fragrance 
chambers and locks can be opened always 
heaven under my chin 
I faded only to let you find me 
there’s no end to that city 
the tower we built together 
back of card – random selection 
back of card – random selection 
back of card – random selection 
back of card – random selection 
back of card – random selection 
initial installation display 
Sehr Jalil 