Unfolding matters: Artist depicts relationship of human psyche with geography

The artworks show heavy influence of the hometown’s environment on the artist.

KARACHI: Young artist Farrukh Adnan’s works speak of his attempts at depicting a relationship of the human mind with space.

His first solo show, titled ‘Unfolding Matters’, opened on Wednesday at the Sanat gallery and will run till February 14.

Exploring new codes and using symbols, the 30-year-old artist has portrayed life in his ancestral village, Tulamba, situated in Khanewal in Southern Punjab.

Adnan’s recent works comprised mainly large-scale drawings on paper and canvas made with pen and colours. Working for several years, he has been researching on his hometown. “I want to show how my village looks from space and that is what I have portrayed on the canvas.”

Talking about his series titled ‘Fluctuated Memory’, Adnan explained how a story continues. “The concrete reality is a process of transformation of the universe and space through a broader view.”

He described the piece ‘Day and Night’ as ‘poetic and beautiful.’ “All the works have their own story and involve one’s mind to understand the layers of space and reality.”

The medium used by the artist reinforced his detail. He drew and sketched using the Rapido pen with a 0.05mm nib in all of the 10 pieces. Moreover, the artworks took more than a year to be completed as it needs a lot of patience and concentration on depicting your thoughts through symbols.

The artist spoke about the general idea of the exhibition and its title. According to him, the process of working on the concept of ‘Unfolding Matters’ is not representational but based on experience. The artworks depict the memories that the artist retains in his mind after visiting his hometown. “This involvement with the history of Tulamba leads me to understand signs and to make multiple marks on paper and canvas.”



Adnan has worked with symbols of different religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Sikhism. “These symbols are combined on the canvas through repetitive mark-making, both linear and through layering,” he said, talking about his ‘Memory and Desire’ which consists of 12 small pieces depicting a detailed story of change and space view.

The artist reiterated his focus on relationships when talking about the two pieces titled ‘Mother’ and ‘Child’. “I want the viewers to put their minds in these descriptive places,” he said. “The physical element of my research remains to be the relationship of human mind and space while the spiritual element has shifted from memory to symbols.”

Published in The Express Tribune, February 6^th, 2015.