East-west: ‘Double vision’ brings in a touch of mysticism

ISLAMABAD:

East met west in a new exhibition titled “Double Vision” in Islamabad. The exhibition, which will run till February 20 at Satrang Gallery in Serena Hotel, features six artists — Geo Karhof, Nan Mulder from Netherlands, Ragini Upadhyay from Nepal, and Sophiya Khwaja, Atif Khan and Zaira Ahmed from Pakistan — showcases their printmaking works.

Each artist has managed to stand out in their own sphere while somehow still managing to create a certain level of cohesiveness with each other.

According to Satrang Gallery Director Asma Khan, the exhibition is a true depiction of the east and west from each other’s perspective.

Geo Karhof’s work was perhaps the most intriguing. Travelling from country-to-country, the artist encompasses all her collected inspirations into mystical figures and even superheroes. Printing her etching on limited editions, she then hand paints her work, which may be a labour intensive process, but the end result is a work of art where colours are superbly fused. One particular piece titled “The Magical Universe” uses gold leaf paper combined with deep sky blue colours that makes the piece stand out and vibrate with the exact sort of mysticism the name echoes.

Nan Mulder on the other hand uses darker tones for her work. “We live in two worlds, which are internal and external. My work is driven by a desire to express the hidden, inner world,” she said. Taking inspiration from Asia’s rich visual culture, the artist uses images of well-known figures of the east and west such as stone images of Buddha, an Indian goddess, and a Victorian queen all fused onto one canvas.

Lahore-based artist Atif Khan continues with his landscape of the heart series as he portrays himself a Mughal king with a heart in his hand. However, the king is actually a more down-to-earth representation, as he drives along in the busy traffic jams of Lahore on a bicycle. “I portray myself as a king as everyone fancies themselves as a king,” explained a laughing Atif.

Striving to stray away from the clichéd path is Sophiya Khwaja. Her piece, “Reigning Queen”, makes a dig at a materialistic woman with her designer bag and suit while running in one direction with her horse blinders on.

From Nepal comes Ragini Upadhyay, who described her work on display. “My work at this gallery is from the series of the continuation Nature Speak, which I have been working on for the last two years...it is especially for Pakistan,” said the artist. Some of the pieces use the jasmine — which is also the national flower of Pakistan — to portray its present situation. The last artist — also the curator for the exhibition — is Zaira Zaka. Using a solo flower as the centrepiece of her works, Zaira uses mellow colours including peach, faun and beige.

Speaking about the exhibition, Zaira hoped the exhibition would enable people to walk away from this exhibition with a little bit of understanding as to the artists’ mutual passion for printmaking.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 30^th, 2013.