8 Pillows Embroidered With Sleeping People By Maryam Ashkanian

Maryam Ashkanian’s ‘Sleep Series’ is just one of her artistic expressions that have captivated global audiences. The unique form of artistry involves pillows embroidered with an image of an individual deep in their sleep. She matches the surface of the handmade pillows to the size of her subject, reimagining the space they would occupy physically if they took a nap on her work.  If there’s one thing we all have in common, it’s our need to sleep. While for some of us it’s just about rest and recovery, for others it’s a veritable art form. Our relationship with our beds is a long-lasting love, that has been calling out to many people for eons like a siren, and we are drawn in again and again by the song of sleep. The symbolism of the pillow as a simple object that serves as the bridge between the worlds of the body and the mind is a philosophy that Ashkanian’s stark imagery brings to light.  The Iranian-born artist, described the series in a statement, “Dream is such a window open to a broad universe. In dreaming we are observers who stare into the farthest most terrible wonderful and coming back to the real world achieving exclusive experiences. Images of us in dreams are revealed in the right truest evidence; an original icon which introduces us to the peripheral world wildly. Pillow is a metonymy of a dream; as a canvas embraces the next of body.” More info: Instagram | MaryamAshkanian

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