The Pieces · One of a kind

The Painted Arch

A hand-painted arch, prised from the wall of a riad that was being emptied of itself, its blue and gold worn thin by a century of hands. In the piece it is carried like a mihrab — a doorway you wear rather than pass through — over a kaftan heavy with gilt brocade.

The house asks a simple question with it: what is the difference between a building and a garment, when both are only ways of holding a life?