KARACHI: A trio of sculptors under the name of ProStones are showcasing their work Wasli to Stone for the first time at the Commune Artist Colony on Saturday to pay homage to great miniature painters.

The three sculptors — Kamran Hamid, Tariq Raja and Rashid Hameed — have worked tirelessly on the stones to prove that stone art is still alive in the region.

Associated with sculpture making for the past three decades, Mr Hamid spoke about the need to bring out this art for public: “This is a tribute from three sculptors to the great miniature painters from Iran to Japan. The first exhibition is extremely close to us because we have worked equally hard on each and every piece presented before the people. We want to raise awareness that these artists are not less than anyone in the world. If the West can produce good sculptors, we too have got a lot of talent here as well.”

He added that all the three worked together on the stones. “We believe that if a job cannot be done single-handedly then we ought to join hands and we are sure that the art lovers will be awestruck by this work because it’s a tough job.” The stone work represents animals ranging from a decorated horse to mammoth to camels and speaks volumes about the hard work put into them.

Giving details about the medium, Mr Raja explained that local sandstone was chosen for the exhibition. “Our medium is local sandstone because it’s easily available. It is not considered of high quality so we took up the challenge to do detail-oriented work on the stones.”

He said they started working on the project in January and collectively made 17 pieces.

ProStones has previously worked for the assembly building by working on a high relief in stone to show the transition in Sindh’s heritage over time.

The group also aims to showcase individual work in future as well as group exhibits.

Wasli to Stone will continue till Dec 19.

Published in Dawn, December 12th, 2015