Exploring themselves through self-critique

ISLAMABAD: Nomad Gallery opens up a group show of five artists all seeking to explore their inner identity. Self image plays a major role in character development; individually, each artist embarks on a soul searching journey to create a collection revolving around self critique. Ahsan Masood, Amra Khan, Maria Khan, Mohsin Shafi and Mizna Syed, each comment on aspects of their lives that is most important to them. While Masood focuses on critiquing his lack of sexual voice, Shafi analyzes the political situation around him.

“I am a very expressive person but when it comes to sexuality, I feel as if I do not have a voice,” explains Masood while critiquing his own collection. The dark distorted self images show aggression and passion at the same time.

The use of mixed media to create the hues of sepia exemplifies the artist’s inner emotion regarding his sexuality. The metro sexuality presented in the collection speaks a thousand words regarding the artist’s inhibitions.

The layers of paint combined with paper and other waste items teams up to create spectacularly disturbing images that are not only different from mainstream art but are also very suggestive.

Mizna Syed exhibits a very interactive collection that includes miniature art on the Rubic cube and puzzles. “My work draws direct inspiration from my life, which at present is riddled with multi-tasking abrupt fluctuations between the different roles I play as a person and my struggle to successfully co-exist in multiple states of mind,” says Syed.

Mohsin Shafi produces a three dimensional reflection of the political society dwelling around him. These mixed media collages present life-like representation of the abuse society suffers from the ‘politically correct liberals with guilt and conservative fundamentalists,’ as the artist puts it himself.

Maria Khan’s floral print patterns engulfing distorted blank faces relate to the inner expressions of a human nature.

The artist fills her canvas with floral prints to articulate the abundance of emotions and life that exists and life cycle of flowers mirroring man’s mortality and the temporariness of life.

Amra Khan examines bipolarity in her work and her collection admires different temperaments and personalities that exist within an individual. Using oil on canvas her images are not only disturbing but thought-provoking.

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