Disconnect to Reconnect

Jackie Milad is a first generation Honduran-Egyptian-American and multimedia artist. Her abstract paintings and collages explore the complexities of her multiethnic identity and bring into question the ways in which cultural heritage is imparted across generations, “My layered compositions mimic not only my own upbringing but also symbolize the way cultures are recorded and monumentalized in remaining fragments over time. I aim to obfuscate the meaning of my textiles to prevent a single reading of the work, hoping this embraces the complexity of the piece and its analogy to global history”. Her heritage informs her work and often appears as ancient Egyptian symbols, Mayan icons, artifacts from museums, and Spanish and Arabic words. These themes appear naturally, as Milad prioritizes candor and creative flow in her work, “The work is made very intuitively and I’m placing and feeling it out as I go. I’m always going big.”. While Milad’s work is a powerful testament to the importance of her own cultural heritage, it simultaneously invites viewers to revel in and inform the art.

“I really want it to be a situation where anyone can approach the work and have their own experience,” she says. “At the same time, I love it when someone comes up to my work and has a shared perspective and can say, ‘I know exactly what that means.’ It’s about being included in the story and building community.”

Milad, Jackie. A Planet Breaks Open. 2022. 57.5 x 77.5 inches. https://jackiemilad.com/home.html.

Milad, Jackie. Always Ancient. 2021. https://jackiemilad. com/home.html.

Milad, Jackie. Shabti Revealed. 2024. https://jackiemilad.com/home.html.

Milad, Jackie. It Means Desert, Desert. 2020. https://jackiemilad.com/home.html.

Milad, Jackie. Stolen. 2021. https://jackiemilad.com/home.html.