Saba Taj

Saba Taj created this work for the Calla Campaign art exhibition titled "(In)visible Organ," which was held in the spring of 2019 at Duke University. The interactive, multimedia exhibit drew together a diverse group of artists whose works reflected on women’s bodies and reproductive health.

The format of Taj's piece references a package of birth control pills and tells the story of a 28-day menstrual cycle. Each image is titled individually and contributes a line to a poem that was inspired by these cyclical transformations.

  1. consecrated
  2. fingers pluck
  3. an oozing bloom from the follicle
  4. and spin stones
  5. into pearls of yolk and archive.
  6. a prophecy dew-dropped through softly parted lips
  7. may become plethora
  8. or disband into a slur of potential.
  9. mapped into the spaces between our molecules
  10. strands of blood ciphers
  11. unravel into moments of lush,
  12. of thickening,
  13. of catching air beneath fresh sheets.
  14. this body has its own gravities.
  15. this body is tender and soaking wet inside.
  16. this body is a keeper of time
  17. and secrets.
  18. alive,
  19. cyclic,
  20. inevitable.
  21. this passage is adorned
  22. with the muscle memory of eels and orchids.
  23. slipping through this gateway between worlds,
  24. there is blood.
  25. an iteration ripened into clot
  26. leaving silhouettes of pressed flowers
  27. imprinted on panty-lines
  28. as a way to remember.

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Mixed media collage piece by Saba Taj

A gift for those who contemplate the wonders of cycles and marvels of gateways, 2019

Mixed media collage

Purchased 2020

Location: Wilkinson Building Level 3

detail of mixed media piece by Saba Taj

detail of mixed media piece by Saba Taj