‘Making the making’: Sculptures depict diverse issues, bring out life

Works of four artistes on display at Satrang Gallery.

ISLAMABAD: A group exhibition of artworks titled ‘Making the Making’ by four sculptors opened at Satrang gallery on Thursday.

“In view of a lack of art museums in the country, galleries need to double number of museums and showcase art in all its forms — sculpture, performance, video and installation art alongside paintings and prints. And this is precisely the reason Satrang hosted this particular exhibition,” director of the gallery Asma Rashid told The Express Tribune.

Despite a common theme, works of the artists -- of Idrees Hanif, Nazir Hunzai, Safdar Ali and Umar Nawaz -- reflected their unique individual styles.

One of the artists, Umar Nawaz, has used metal as a medium and created a large monumental piece, which seemed nothing less than grandeur of reflective metal.

He said his work revolves around the physical manipulation and treatment of the material involved. “The rigorous process that the material goes through is what defines the form and its content.”

Nazir Hunzai has used metal, plaster and latex to explore consistencies and textures through playful creations. He mentioned that his work finds itself inquiring the mode of existence of man and other beings. “My work pauses as the slight inconvenience before the start to co-exist and merge into one another.

This body of work continues to look into the intrusion of one into the other, the struggle for power and influence and in turn being influenced by the other,” he explained.

He stated that drawings and sculptures imitate the transition in various ways, the breaking of a particular code of existence before it enters the next one.

Safdar Ali has used latex and bricks for his work to create pieces, which, according to him, reflect reality. His work portrays a modern day vision of the social problems.

“My work reflects an instrument that helps the viewer understand his personal state in time and space. In the widest sense, my work has to do with the human being’s inability to identify with structures that he himself has created. The sense of loss or inadequacy he feels when faced with these structures, moves the man to interpret the world and himself,” said Ali.

Hanif’s life-sized sculptures made of wood seem to be inspired from real life objects. “I am not making sculptures, I am remaking life,” he remarked.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 8^th, 2015.