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Reflecting their personal perspectives through powerful narratives involving the use of a wide range of media, an exhibition of the works of 10 dynamic international printmakers from six countries opens at Nomad Art Gallery today (Monday).
Titled ‘10 A Collab,’ the exhibition can best be described as a coordinated and soulfully harmonized tango of nourishment for the soul. “The show offers an ideal platform for a collaborative, cross-cultural dialogue inspired by personal memories but also reflecting on women and power, self-therapy and healing, worldly experiences, consumerism, identity, and urban reflections, among other issues,” the gallery’s director Nageen Hyat stated.
The artists have created thought-provoking imagery which sometimes involves the use of new technology, and at other times, makes use of traditional printmaking techniques resulting in layers of skillfully juxtaposed images, Nageen added. They have also challenged age-old mindsets and archaic thinking processes during the course of their journey of discovery and influence.
The credit for the exhibition goes to Iram Wani, whose enthusiasm as a dedicated printmaker, with contribution from all participants, has created a bridge to bring together global thoughts and personal experiences in this collaborative initiative.
“My unleashed imaginative world is charged with emotions of love, affection and sympathy. Within this personal realm, the experiences are integrated and creativity comes to life that portrays the existence of a youth, deeply rooted in a middle class environment,” says Lovesh Sharma, one of the participating artists.
Elise Searson’s work is related to a series of images made on a trip to Poland in 2013. “The images represent the distance between then and now by reflecting on how memory distorts and reinvents lived experiences as we keep the visions locked away in the mind,” the artist says.
Sidra Ali’s focus is on self-therapy and self-healing. Through her art, she achieves aesthetic nourishment “for I believe it is important to preserve both a healthy heart and mind that results in a positive influence on social life and surroundings.”
Vibhuti Sharma tries to create ‘awareness’ about a culture of consumerism that has indirectly consumed us. “My work addresses not only the ‘comfort’ that we have associated with the big brands but also the persuasive ‘male gaze’ in advertising, where the female body is used as an attraction for the ‘pleasure’ of an absent male spectator,” Vibhuti states.
Sarah Hopkins likes to explore buildings and the urban environment, with an emphasis on architectural shape and pattern. “Defying the perception of ugliness, my work reveals a warmth for city living and industrial landscape. Using experimental processes, hand-cut paper stencils and blocks of colour, I create screen prints which celebrate locations generally considered unsightly. With its noxious plumes and spectacular skies, I have an emotional attachment to this particular location; one of the most polluted towns in the UK. This collaborative collection is part of a larger body of work made in response to the UK steel industry,” she states.
Tracey Moberly’s collection explores power, women and the celebration of industry. “My work follows the decline of the manufacturing industries in the UK to that of consumer nation. I have used new technology juxtaposed with traditional print making techniques to explore the overtly masculine structures associated with heavy industry in which I find much beauty. I use my mobile phone as a toolbox - taking the photo with the phone camera then crafting the image via the Instagram App. The prints are then created by using a photographic stenciling technique and hand printmaking methods. In order to contrast the bold, masculine structures of the Port Talbot steel works, an unlikely colour palette has been established within the female collaboration subverting traditional interpretation. In their completed states, the prints are a unique understanding of a powerful industrial landscape,” she explains.
Sameera Khan’s work combines urban city maps with ethnic colours of Northern Pakistan. She prints layers of vibrant colours to build images, constantly exploring new ways of representing ideas by transforming geometrical shapes, lines and textures into striking images of everyday beauty of cityscapes.
Rodrigo Rosas is interested in exploring space and landscapes and how we construct those visual ideas. “Landscape is a human construction. In my artworks, I investigate which notions humans use to construct the idea of landscape and I pay attention to one of those: vacuum. In my point of view, it is the most important and interesting element in a landscape. One of my influences is the classical Chinese woodcut,” Rodrigo states.
David Jones’ art practice has become a vehicle through which the critique of institutionalized and everyday racism in Australia can be pursued. “The Butchulla, Dalungbarra and more particularly Dalungdalee heritage informs the process and work, and is the resolve that drives my visual practice,” he states.
Although born in Islamabad, Iram Wani’s soul forever belongs to Kashmir. Her prints for this exhibition are inspired by the two female Kashmiri mystic poets and ascetics Habbah Khatoon, who is also known as ‘Nightingale of Kashmir,’ and Lal Ded or ‘Lalleshwari.’ “In my works, I have juxtaposed my symbols with the poetry of the two mystics to form accounts of ascension of soul and mind from the false self to the true self—a journey that seems very complex but once comprehended, is the purest of all innate understandings,” she states.
The exhibition will continue till September 24 at Nomad Art Gallery, Saidpur Village
