About Jackie
Jackie Milad is a Baltimore City-based artist whose mixed-media abstract paintings and collages address the layers, history and complexities surrounding multi-ethnic identity. She has participated in numerous group and solo exhibitions nationally and internationally. Select exhibitions include Harvey B. Gantt Center (Charlotte, NC), Middle East Institute (Washington DC), … more
Sarcophagus (2021)
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Stolenmixed media on hand-dyed canvas
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Stolen (detail)
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350/27
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Always AncientFlashe, acrylic, marker, paper collage on unstretched canvas. 69.75" x 93"
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TantoFlashe, acrylic, marker, paper collage on unstretched canvas. 60"x 55"
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Salvaje InsideFlashe, acrylic, marker, paper collage on unstretched canvas. 50" x 30"
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Sarcophagus 1Flashe, acrylic, marker, paper collage on unstretched canvas. 50" x 31"
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FallaFlashe, acrylic, marker, paper collage on unstretched canvas. 69" x 74.5"
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Sarcophagus InteriorFlashe, acrylic, marker, paper collage on unstretched canvas. 69" x 63"
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No Hay, No HayFlashe, acrylic, marker, paper collage on unstretched canvas. 50" x 31"
It Means Desert, Desert (2020)
"As a daughter of an Egyptian father and Honduran mother, and having grown up in Baltimore, Milad’s cultural identity is necessarily one of many layers. It seems only appropriate, then, that her work reflect this layering. In It Means Desert, Desert, Milad reflects upon her Egyptian heritage, connecting her own multi-layered identity to the long and ever-shifting cultural heritage of Egypt herself. As Milad says, “Egypt, with its long and complex history, is a modern nation that nonetheless reveals its ancient, medieval, and colonial pasts on every street corner and in every neighborhood.” This metaphor is one that is beautifully parallel to Milad’s work. Every crevice, every corner, every layer of her work tells a piece of a fractured tale—overlapping, translucent in places, opaque in others—one that never quite comes together, and yet manages to make almost the most complete picture possible." - Curator, Megan Rook-Koepsel
She Goes Ancient (2019-2021)
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She Goes Ancient (1)She Goes Ancient (1) 68" x 68" 2019 mixed media on hand dyed canvas
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She Goes Ancient ReduxShe Goes Ancient Redux, 68" x 68", 2020 mixed media collage on hand dyed canvas
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Chaos Eyes (1)Chaos Eyes (1), 72" x 72", 2019, mixed media collage on canvas
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Chaos Eyes ReduxChaos Eyes Redux, 72" x 72", 2020, mixed media collage and painting on canvas
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Mesh MumkinMesh Mumkin, 68" x 68", 2020
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Mesh Mumkin ReduxMesh Mumkin Redux, mixed-media on canvas, 68" x68", 2021
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Nada Que DecirNada Que Decir, 68" x 68", mixed-media on canvas, 2019
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Nada Que Decir ReduxNada Que Decir Redux, 68" x 68", mixed-media on canvas, 2020
Arches (2018-2019)
Pyramids Fall Too (2016 - 2019)
".......The pyramid leitmotif in her recent work here feels indebted to Milad's Egyptian and Honduran background; ancient cultures in both regions erected pyramids. Visually tweaking, erasing, camouflaging, obliterating, and remixing that pyramid shape reads like the artist pointing out that living in a country/on a planet where identity—ethnic, racial, gender, etc.—is fundamental for the organizing power structure to define who you are, you can feel a little unmoored if the available boxes don't always seem like the right fit. Feeling kinda/sorta part of each parent's identity marker but not a whole anything as conventionally defined can feel like not having an identity at all. And when you're some other Other, conventional identity politics not only doesn't always know how to handle that but sometimes even wants you to choose a team. Be this or be that. Be what we think you look like. Be what we think we know about where your people came from. Be that something we assume we already know.
Science informs us that our genotypes contain the genetic information of an individual, but what's expressed as our phenotype is what people see. Biology, of course, is not destiny, and in a few of the works in "Pyramids Fall Too" Milad treats the pyramid form as a visual expression of identity that is, perhaps, no longer sufficient for communicating what it once did. In pieces such as 'They Are Pyramids,' 'Rebuilt Site,' and 'Pharonic Open' Milad's pyramid forms are beginning to be overshadowed by other elements. Gold curves suggest a feathery exterior. A pyramid's matte black face melts into a billowing cloud. Gold-line loops interlock to become stretches of gold chain. These visual developments aren't tacked extras to the pyramid forms, like adding a bathroom to a house. Milad's visual flourishes are indications of the pyramids becoming something else. And if the creation of an accurate self-identity means demolishing the historical conventions represented by the pyramids in the process, well, let them come down".
By Brett McCabe
Baltimore City Paper
July 27, 2016 (“Pyramids Fall Too” exhibition, review excerpt)