KARACHI – “All art is visual, and if there is to be a dialogue, it should be between the viewer and the work itself,” says Shakil Saigol.
He would prefer his audience to make its own interpretation, rather than imposing preconceived notions with jargon.
He could, if pressed, conjure an intellectual debate about his paintings. “Is it a struggle of man against beast? Is it a contrast between the human skin and the graphical physiognomy of the zebra? Is it a fascination for the zebra? Is it about the beast in man?”
He leaves that to the viewers’ interpretation, for all that he had to say, he has done it either on paper or on canvas.
A whimsical friend from his schooldays, on appearing for his art paper in Senior Cambridge, was asked to depict ‘The animals flee the jungle as the fire rages’. He painted a large blob of red, with a written message saying, ‘As it is impossible to depict fear in animals, I am omitting the animals.
“I am, in the same sense, omitting further statement,” said Saigol.
His significant artworks include ‘Almost Divine’, ‘Enigma’, ‘Lunar Ritual I’, ‘Lunar Ritual II’, ‘Metamorphosed’, ‘Metamorphosing’, ‘Metamorphosis I’, ‘Metamorphosis II’, ‘Solar Ritual I’, ‘Solar Ritual II’ and ‘Visaal’.
Photos courtesy Canvas Gallery
