Commixture: Graduates come together for exhibition

ISLAMABAD:

An exhibition showcasing the works of recent arts graduates from three universities opened at My Art World on Wednesday.

The participating artists — Shameen Arshad, Sana Shahid, Amna Abbas, Sundeep Kumar, Komal Tunio, Aqsa Memon, Bakhtawar Mahar, Attia Rashid, Usra Shaikh, and M Qasim Joyo — are graduates of National College of the Arts (NCA) campuses in Rawalpindi and Lahore, and Centre of Excellence in Arts and Design (CEAD) in Jamshoro.

Gallery curator Zara Sajid said the artists have explored various media in their respective pieces, which have been aligned at the gallery in a manner that the viewer is encouraged to think about the content instead of glazing over it. Subsequently, the art pieces are very open to interpretation, and at times, thought-provoking.

Arshad deals with bold typography pieces. She merges writing with art in her text-heavy pieces. Mostly in a monochromatic palette, her artworks combine drawing, painting and symbolic text on canvas. In some cases, the text is obscure. Some of the text is highlighted, some blanked out, and some merging together.

Mahar has painted with the unique medium of enamel on canvas. Her freestyle strokes and bold splashes of colour combine for a vintage effect in a rustic atmosphere.

Shaikh’s print and sculpture piece is a conversation between two tattered hard copies of classic books with strands of calligraphy script on paper connecting them. The untitled piece is simultaneously out-of-the-box and obscure.

Tunio created a self-portrait with embroidery on canvas. Intertwined strands of wool dangle from the surface, with lines and contours of the skin sketched to give a three-dimensional effect. Titled, ‘Memories’, a similar piece shows what seems to be a group selfie of college friends, with a more vibrant palette and mix-media on canvas.

Instead of traditional Mughal miniature paintings stamped with portraits and figures, Memon has revisited the miniature with pins, creating a silhouette of a monarch on with a variation of leveled pins. Set against a plain backdrop, the glistening pins sort of create a mini sculpture, thus straddling between different media and techniques.

Rashid offers the viewer alternate perspectives of the same architectural structure, with a collage on a lasani board. The exhibition will continue till April 3.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 26^th, 2015.