Tazeen Qayyum: How to Trace a Pattern
Tracing Pattern Series: Book II_N1, 2026, archival ink and cotton thread on interfacing, 23 x 31 inches.
Tazeen Qayyum: How to Trace a Pattern
Curated by Sarah Quinton
November 4 – 28, 2026
Opening Reception: Saturday, November 7, 2 – 5pm
Red Head Gallery, Toronto
The artist will be present on November 7, 14, 21, and 28 during gallery hours and may accommodate viewings on request outside gallery hours.
Red Head Gallery is pleased to present How to Trace a Pattern by member Tazeen Qayyum.
In How to Trace a Pattern, Tazeen Qayyum investigates the language of textiles through clothing design, domestic sewing practices, and the circulation of globalized patterns across generations within her family lineage. As a young girl in Pakistan in the 1970s, Qayyum wore clothes sewn by her mother using European dressmaking books featuring blonde, fair-skinned children. Decades later, the artist returns to this family archive of dress patterns and sewing manuals, stirring memories and deepening an already rich connection with her mother, Shaheen Qayyum.
Qayyum employs traditional South Asian and Persian miniature painting techniques to challenge the dynamics through which Western culture has often been presented as universal while obscuring the non-Western sources from which it drew inspiration. The artist asserts the colonial histories embedded within seemingly innocent patterns and garments.
Images (left to right): Easy Cutting_I, 2026, gouache on wasli (prepared archival paper), 7.5 x 5 inches. Easy Cutting_II, 2026, gouache on wasli (prepared archival paper), 7.5 x 5 inches.
Artist Biography
Tazeen Qayyum (she/her) is a Pakistani-Canadian, multidisciplinary artist based in Oakville. Trained as a miniature painter of South Asian and Persian traditions, Qayyum continues to explore new materials and processes through drawing, installation, sculpture, video and performance. Her work addresses complex issues of belonging, identity, and displacement within a socio-political context, emphasizing empathy and compassion as a counterforce to aggression and conflict while acknowledging the evolving realities of our time.
Qayyum’s artwork has been exhibited globally at prestigious galleries, museums, international art biennials and festivals, including the Karachi Biennial 2017, the Bangkok Art Biennial 2022, National Museum of Qatar in 2024 and the Edinburgh International Festival 2025. Her works are part of esteemed collections such as the Royal Ontario Museum, the Aga Khan Museum, Canada; the Art Mill Museum, Qatar; the Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa; the TD Canada Trust Permanent Collection, Toronto; the Welt Museum, Vienna; the Doris McCarthy Gallery at the University of Toronto; the National Gallery of Amman, Jordan; and the National Art Gallery, Nepal.
Qayyum co-founded Art Address, an interactive space in Oakville dedicated to fostering artistic discourse, community building, and mentoring emerging and newcomer artists in Canada.
The artist would like to acknowledge and express heartfelt gratitude to curator Sarah Quinton, artist Sophia Kim, her family and the Ontario Arts Council for their support in making this exhibition possible. A special thank you to her mother, Shaheen Qayyum, for lovingly preserving and sharing all the cherished objects and memories, and for her unwavering love and care.
View past work by Tazeen Qayyum.
The Red Head Gallery
401 Richmond Street West, Suite 115
Toronto, ON M5V 3A8
www.redheadgallery.org
info@redheadgallery.org
416 504 5654
Gallery Hours:
Wednesday – Saturday, 12 – 5pm
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