While one artist waits for the dust to settle, the other scratches out an existence

KARACHI: The agony and the ecstasy. That is the world of an artist. But perhaps Ayaz Jokhio and Adeel uz Zafar have taken pains to a whole new level with their latest work. Jokhio literally waits for months on end for dust to settle on a surface to form a picture, while Zafar etches on vinyl a life-sized teddy bear swathed in bandages.

The majority of art students at the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture and Karachi Grammar School know Adeel uz Zafar as Sir Adeel, the long-suffering art teacher who never raises his voice. In the real world of art, however, he is an artist who has commanded the respect of his peers for his work ethic and innovative style. On Tuesday, he teamed up with fellow National College of Arts graduate Ayaz Jokhio for a two-person show at the Canvas Gallery in Clifton. It was almost as if they were trying to compete with each other over the most ludicrously tedious art technique without distorting the work’s artistic appeal.

Jokhio, whose work was more recently seen at the ‘Rising Tide’ exhibition at the Mohotta Palace Gallery, was unfortunately unavailable to comment. As a Lahore-based artist he was unable to reach Karachi in time for the opening. However, Zafar was more than happy to oblige.

‘Dust on Canvas’ is an incredibly tiresome technique in which the artist cuts stencils and places them on a blank, horizontally placed canvas, applies a fixative and leaves it to collect dust - literally. “The shades are achieved by allowing some areas to gather more dust than the rest,” explained Zafar while talking about Jokhio’s work. “It is a very tedious technique and it takes a long time.”

According to him, their work complements each other because of the way they draw inanimate objects and because Jokhio’s work is all on white and Zafar’s was all on black.

Discussing his own work, Zafar reveals that what appear to be three-dimensional prints are actually meticulously hand-etched pieces of art. “It took me about three months to finish that one, I put in four or five hours a day,” he stated matter-of-factly when asked about his larger than life, 64 by 106 inch portrait of Mickey Mouse etched on Vinyl. His subjects were stuffed toys wrapped in bandages, every thread traced out by hand.

“I used to illustrate for children’s books and textbooks, I’ve worked for almost every major publishing company in the country,” said Zafar, citing his inspiration. Once he was posted in a remote northern area of the country, where there was a scarcity of mediums. So when he found some photographic film and a blade he thought ‘why not?’ and began etching images. After that, he was inspired to investigate substitutes for paints and surfaces.

“I have been interested in working on a large scale,” says his artist statement. “Small toys blown up to monstrous sizes with the intricacies manifested in the concealing weaves of cloth. Such details open many connotations regarding furtive and ambiguous identity. I associate my perpetual dealing with the children’s subjects as the core of my imagery development.”

The “benignly sweet or threateningly sinister” stuffed toys were a jab at the “ridiculous parodies, criticism, pejorative and censorship worldwide”, he added.

Familiar faces present at the launch included writer Attiya Dawood and fellow artist Mehr Afroze. “I’ve been familiar with Adeel and Ayaz’s work for some years now,” said the silver-haired artist, “There is no short-cut to this kind of painstaking work, it takes the time it takes in order to achieve that visual appeal. In a culture where people are removing conventional mediums, craftsmanship loses its importance and you forget about the message. But when an artist puts in this kind of effort and personalises their work this way, it comes across.”

Published in The Express Tribune, February 18^th, 2011.