Exhibition: A trio of artists enter the miniaturised world of art

Artists displaying at Rohtas Art Gallery hope to make a mark in the artistic circles of the city.


Momina Sibtain December 10, 2010

ISLAMABAD: A trio of debutant artists, exhibiting their work at the Rohtas Art Gallery, hope to make a mark in the artistic circles of the city. They have used miniature paintings on vasli employing gadrang, siyah qalam and etching, and while the themes they have employed are varied, there is a harmony in the paintings that brings the exhibition together.

Having recently graduated from Fatima Jinnah University, this is the first time the three artists, Amara Ulfat, Sumbal Mushtaq and Sumbal Hayat, are showcasing their work at a commercial venue. The experience, they said, was “exhilarating” and something they would cherish for years to come.

“We were all friends at Fatima Jinnah and we decided that if we wanted to carry on with this professionally we might as well debut in the market together,” Hayat told The Express Tribune.

Her work is crafted around belongings that are dearest to her. Through the depiction of her shoes, umbrellas and watches the artist brings out the conceptual side of normally mundane items. Her collection took about six months to complete.

In contrast, Amara Ulfat was inspired by Surah-e-Rahman and themed her collection after man’s instinct for the want of worldly items. She analysed the society and the world that she lives in.

“I realised that none of us is satisfied with what we have and what we are. Beauty to me is an abstract thought which is not only a fantasy, but also is a hoax,” Ulfat said about her paintings.

She highlights the socialisation of beauty in the lives of individuals that in turn leads to materialism. Her collection was particularly colourful — she depicted her fascination with the world through the use of glitter. Her collection poses the question: “Why are we attracted only to glitter, not knowing that glitter is not gold? Beauty lies not just in the gems but in the dust as well.”

The third artist, Sumbal Mushtaq, takes her guidance from knitting needles and weaves in her concept of hope and imagination in the final paintings. Her work demonstrates the goals and hopes that a person feels. She uses the knitting needles as a tool to bind and bring together random thoughts in our head. These thoughts do not have material existence but somewhere they come together and make a reel that completes the struggle of self-discovery. “It is like putting these goals into struggle to make them a reality.”

The prices of the artworks at the ongoing exhibition range between Rs6,000 to Rs12,000.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 10th, 2010.

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