KARACHI – “There are images, dimensions and concepts that can be recalled to memory because of connections, associations and contexts. They make tangible that which is realised, but exists in the realm of the unconscious,” says artist Saira Sheikh.
Working with her own image as a prototype is due to the consciousness that one looks at everything through the lens of one’s own self. So, even the broadest, most general and universal issues would be the reflection of one’s own experience and outlook of life. Not strictly autobiographical, but certainly stemming from that. “The works narrate the experience of existing or living and being brought up a female in a society where conflicts between genders, religions, cultures and histories lead to a claustrophobic existence,” Sheikh says.
The miniature format, which exploits the flatness of the paper and the image to subterfuge the multiple perspectives, has infinite possibilities. The narrative, an intrinsic cultural attitude peculiar to our part of the world and also that of the miniature painting tradition, is another element that interests her. “The scale makes the work intimate and demanding, for both the artist and the viewer. The multifarious ways in which the components – qualitative and quantitative – of miniature may be exploited excite me,” she explains.
Each mark is carefully placed with the brush, having a space of its own in the entire scheme and meanings beyond. In contrast, the stain is arbitrary; not following any rule of human invention or control. She says that evoking organic forms is primal, not handmade, and is subject to environmental forces for its ultimate semblance. “Growth every moment, in space and in time. Symbolising evolution and metamorphosis of self, which is the same yet entirely new in every new moment,” she adds.
Photos courtesy VASL Art
Looking at everything through the lens of one’s own self
