“My work is a reflection of who I am, my contradictions, retaliations and expressions… it is my hope and purpose to survive… my seduction, says Amena Bandukwala, one of the three young artists whose paintings are on display at the Grandeur Art Gallery in Clifton.
“I humble myself to the forms of art and its meaning to our reclusive souls. It is a fusion of styles that my mind captures, captivates and therefore creates, she says.
“When a piece is complete, there is nothing like the euphoria that emerges from within. A secret sensation converted into a splurge of energy on a surface emblazoned with peculiar emotions.”
Bandukwala graduated as an Interior Designer from the American University in Dubai. Alongside her seven year interior designing career, her art has grown and morphed from neo-expressionism to monochrome doodlism. Her work is complex and meticulous and has been previously displayed in France and Dubai. This is her first showing in Pakistan since she moved to Karachi in 2009.
The two other young artists are Hawra Hariariawala and Sami Chohan. Harianawala has been living in Karachi since 2006 after moving back from Toronto. She received her BFA in Fine arts from NCA Lahore. Her art work concerns the issues of space both personal and collective. The process of discovering each canvas amidst its layers is one where she finds mysterious joy. The mediums for each surface differ as does the mood and motivation.
“Revealing layers, fragmentation and diversity in terms of size, shape, color and texture… at times consistent and at other times contradictory… these are all properties of a large urban development that witnesses our metamorphosis while we witness its disintegration and growth at the same time,” she says.
Chohan says that he is deeply inspired by the theories of Surrealism though he may not be a traditional Surrealist.
“The coexistence of opposites influences me. The duality of the physical world shapes my mind and characterizes my work. Or perhaps my mind and work shape and characterise the duality of the physical world,” he says.
“Either way, the duality exists. Consider the act of drawing a process of extraction – an extraction of metaphors from the subconscious mind. Unreal in manifestation, these metaphors possess the ultimate truth.”
