Artist Statement
I graduated in 2009 as a miniaturist from the National College of Arts, Lahore, Pakistan. My family is craft orientated and as they are my initial inspiration, my artwork is craft-based. Most of it revolves around the passionate world of childhood memories. My childhood drawings, which filled my school notebooks, showed my continue interest in basic shapes, vertical and horizontal lines. I prefer a humanistic approach to what makes a person happy, enriched, and fulfilled. This primitive, bold style imagery collaborates with very intricate hand woven Wasli and my school notebooks. This transforms into interesting compositions which stimulate the viewer's imagination and exploration of one's own memories. My work evolved from my personal interaction with the works of Piet Mondrian, during visits to Museum Of Modern Art New York in 2013. I relate myself with the squares; rectangles and the stripes weaved together. This strong inspiration materialized into series of work, and exhibitions were held on “Woven Narratives Dialogue with Piet Mondrian 2015”. As I belong to the land of historically rich with culture, heritage, and crafts I have personal concern with the crafts of Sindh like Rali, Bed sheets, and Charpai . My recent work of 2017, is evolved from the strong inspiration and connection to Sindh crafts and Indus civilization. I have also been intrigued by the nature of perception and by optical effects and illusions which has evolved my recent bodywork and showed my personal interaction and inspiration with the Op Art moments. My work is the combination of Low Craft Art (Rali Art, Charpai Art, Chatai Art) and High Craft Art (Op Art). The block patterns, triangle, and rectangular shapes strongly give the impression of Rali Art in my work. I weave the structure and patterns which is the reflection of Charpai Art and Chatai Art. The pieces are created in black and white, gives viewer the impression of movement and vibrating patterns depict the illusional effects of Op Art.
