Compendium of artwork: Contemporary, mixed media paintings go on display

Rich cultural background of participating artists reflects diversity of work

ISLAMABAD: An exhibition celebrating emerging contemporary and mixed media art has managed to showcase a number of local artists whose rich cultural background reflects in the diversity of their work.

The exhibit, appropriately titled “Sensory Spices”, brings a wonderful blend of artwork by Rabia Malik, Zoya Manan, Khalid Soomro, Romessa Khan, Saim Ghazi and Anuskha Rustomji, opened here at My Art World on Thursday.

Selected work by the artists has been put on display at the gallery. In a break from traditional practice, the work displayed shows the experimental side of artists who have used various mediums.

Soomro’s three pieces are a display of acrylic on canvas.

Malik has used oil on canvas in her painting “The Breakfast”.

Manan has used various mediums such as dry pastels, oil paints, acrylics on board and bitumen sheet.

Ghazi has made use of acrylic and paint marker on canvas, while Khan has used ink on sheet and paper with a blend of water colour, tea wash and lead in an artwork.

The art exhibited, in general, allows viewers to draw their own interpretation of the work.

Particular works, due to interwoven characters, intricate detail and symbolism make a visually-appealing impact.

Zara Sajid, the curator of My Art World, said the exhibition aimed to explore a broad spectrum of “feelings, emotions and ideas that are evoked by our senses.”

“There is a diverse blend of artists from across the country with rich cultural backgrounds that directly or indirectly are portrayed in the art they make,” she said.

The curator said that every artist featured had unique concepts and inspirations.

Rustomji said that her work was influenced by the duality of nature; stillness and movement, chaos and order, and eternity through adaptability.

“Most of the imagery in my work has been inspired by the text of the Bundahishn, an ancient mythological description of the creation,” she said.

Khan said that she used her work to celebrate the joy and beauty found in non-living objects.

Malik said that in most of her work, the emphasis was on her face. “To get that right is the most important thing for me. Repeatedly using my face as the starting point of my work, I wanted to achieve perfection,” she said.

Soomro, an artist featured in the exhibition, firmly believed that the human struggle was an unstoppable process. “Each person has a self-portrait, whether physically manifested or not,” she added.

Manan’s experiences have taught her that learning holds more value than the end result of success or failure.

“Surroundings, people, gestures, facial expressions, colour palette and environment play an important role in my work and it shows,” she said.

Ghazi said that his work was inspired by the Mughal era.

“My work is a compendium of personal spaces, where humans are living and interacting every moment of their existence,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 20^th, 2015.