Exhibition: Medical student-turned-painter depicts lucid dreams

Shireen Rasul’s work is mixed media; drawing, painting, sculpture and digital

ISLAMABAD: An intriguing use of light incorporated in sculpture and paintings to give an illuminative affect drew audiences at an exhibition on Saturday. This is the first work in recent times where an artist has incorporated light in their artwork.

A solo exhibition featuring mixed media artworks titled “From dreams to realities” by Shireen Rasul were on display. The artwork, displayed at the Nomad Art Gallery, is a collection of mixed media blending various techniques.

Her work is predominantly mixed media; drawing and painting, in addition to sculpture and digital. Her work mostly spawns from nightmares and experiences of lucid dreaming, coupled with the egotistic nature of man in relation to his parallel animate beings. Her visual inspiration has come mainly from nature, such as the human body, bones, animals, and sea life. The intense and emotional nature of her work is strengthened by manipulating animalistic references, thus, creating unique characters and imagery.

A certain part of the exhibition features The Museum of Lectromagnis. According to Rasul, the museum “deals with the concept that man is not the only measure of reality.”

Explaining her work, she said, “there are non-humans as well, who measure reality in their own way, least acknowledged by man. A new habitat, the Lectromagnis, was designed way under the hadal zone of the deep sea, carrying extreme conditions where humans cannot sustain on their own. A long evolutionary process takes place where different forms of creatures combine with that of humans, thus, forming a new species, the Crustacordems. It then creates a new perspective of reality altogether, which is being explored,” the artist said.

Rasul told The Express Tribune that her interest in science inspired her to explore such unique concepts in her artworks. “I was put in a medical school, but that was not how I wanted to learn science, and I eventually dropped out to join art school. I graduated from the National College of Arts [Rawalpindi] with a major in painting, because I feel like it is the most expressive form of art, and allows for experimentation,” she said.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Nomad Gallery Director Nageen Hyat said that Rasul is a very talented and creative young artist, and that the gallery is inspired to promote her imaginative and edgy work. “I personally see her holding a strong place among her contemporaries in Pakistan’s art scene”, Hyat said.

The exhibition will continue till December 31.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 20^th, 2015.