The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of July 8, 2026

A vertically oriented grid of four etchings depicts human heads overlaid with layered shapes. At the top left, a bald man's profile faces right amidst winged figures on blue. Top right, a man's front-facing head is obscured by golden clouds and map lines. At the bottom left, a woman's head faces right through jagged yellow shapes. Bottom right, a profile facing left is masked by orange clouds, a white horse rider, and a tree.

Portrait of the Artist/Breath of Miraj

2016

Shahzia Sikander

(Pakistani American, b. 1969)
publisher

Pace Editions

America
Suite of four etchings and one text page
Gift of the Artist 2023.209
© Shahzia Sikander
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Sikander has been incorporating self-portraits into her work since The Scroll (1989-90), her undergraduate thesis project at the National College of Arts in Lahore, Pakistan.

Description

Portrait of the Artist is a collaborative work that comprises four etchings by the visual artist Shahzia Sikander (Pakistani-American, b. 1969) and an accompanying text by the author Ayad Akhtar (Pakistani-American, b. 1970). Through their respective mediums, Sikander and Akhtar interpret the Mi’raj, an Islamic narrative about the Prophet Muhammad’s mystical night journey and ascent to heaven, in relation to the artistic pursuit.
  • 2016–23
    Shazia Sikander (the artist) [b. 1969], New York, NY, given to The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
    December 4, 2023–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Shahzia Sikander: Collective Behavior. Palazzo Soranzo Van Axel, Venezia, Italy (co-organizer) (April 20-October 20, 2024).
  • {{cite web|title=Portrait of the Artist/Breath of Miraj|url=false|author=Shahzia Sikander, Pace Editions|year=2016|access-date=08 July 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2023.209