Miniature paintings: Peculiar materials and set patterns

Sana Kazi’s work is being simultaneously displayed in Lahore and Karachi

LAHORE: Over a hundred portraits by Sana Kazi are being displayed at galleries in Lahore and Karachi simultaneously. 

The exhibition in Lahore has been titled Spatial Transcendence while the one in Karachi has been titled Cognitive Transcendence. The portraits are being displayed at Rohtas 2 Art Gallery in Lahore and Koel Gallery in Karachi. They depict concern over the social and political scenario in Pakistan.



Some of the portraits being displayed in Karachi have been titled Sleeper Series, In Transit and Alter Ego. They have been made using gouache and pencil on ash covered wasli and gouache on ash covered wasli.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Kazi said both exhibitions were unique in their own right. Kazi said her work had been installed at the Rohtas Gallery’s ceiling, door, windows, staircase and a 110 feet long winding pavement that has been converted into a rail-track.

Kazi said her work was primarily composed of miniatures. She said she worked with unusual materials like ash, sawdust, cement and brick-powder. Kazi said she used these in the traditional Indo-Persian style.

She said she had balanced the unconventional use of such materials by following a set pattern to paint the miniatures.  Kazi said she had been constantly experimenting with the art of miniature painting. She said the history of the art could be seen as the anti-thesis of conservatism. Kazi said this was akin to her own struggle with the dogmatist’s error.

She said she had illustrated global social, political and cultural issues to create a dialogue between tradition and transition. Kazi said she hoped her work would overcome boundaries and barriers as it had a universal theme.

The artist is based in Lahore. She studied at the National College of Arts. Kazi graduated from the institution as a miniature painter and also completed a post-graduate degree in Visual Arts from there in 2012.  She teaches at the NCA.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 15^th, 2014.