Memory, Scale & Imagined Spaces in Qureshi’s Sculptures

London- and Oxford-based artist Saad Qureshi presents a series titled Something About Paradise, composed of three large-scale sculptures that bridge floor and wall, carrying tiny houses and trees as though the earth itself is alive. While developing this work, Qureshi traveled across the U.K., asking people their ideas of paradise. The responses were often vague, dreamlike, and edged with memory. From these narratives he envisioned “mindscapes” — hybrid spaces between memory and imagination. Scaling Memory & Space Qureshi’s work engages directly with how human perception of architecture and space shifts over time. He uses scale intentionally — what seems monumental in childhood may shrink in adulthood. For example, Qureshi recalls his childhood home in Bewal, Pakistan. As a child, its high ceilings and thick pillars felt enormous. Returning years later, he realized memory had magnified those proportions; the physical space was far smaller than he remembered. This tension between remembered scale and real dimensions forms the emotional core of the sculptures. Qureshi describes how time stretches and contracts, and suggests that space does so as well. Form, Material & Architectural Allusion Visually, Qureshi’s sculptures evoke architectural motifs — columns, archways, textured surfaces — but rendered in a dream-inflected, distorted way. Details are softened or exaggerated, spatial context is removed, and edges blur, giving the sense of a place half-remembered. Some works stand freely, while others extend upward to meet walls, carrying small structures or natural elements. Others rest on wheeled bases or drawers, implying motion, impermanence, and shifting landscapes. In his piece Convocation (2023), for example, architectural styles and elements merge into a single column. The sculpture integrates motifs from across cultural references, suggesting a layered, evolving collective memory. Why This Matters for Art & Design Qureshi’s work demonstrates how sculpture and architectural thinking can bridge memory, emotion, and spatial form. His approach is relevant for designers and artists who: • Think through how scale alters perception and meaning • Explore memory or nostalgia in spatial or built forms • Merge architectural language with poetic or emotional content • Use materials, distortion, and context removal to suggest dreams or internal spaces His sculptures are not literal recreations of paradise, but reflections on how each of us carries internal versions of place, filtered through memory, longing, and imagination. Conclusion Saad Qureshi’s Something About Paradise invites viewers into the liminal space between memory and constructed form. Through scaling, architectural allusion, and poetic distortion, he transforms personal stories into tangible objects. The works remind us that what we remember is rarely literal — it’s layered, elastic, and shaped by emotion.