August 2, 2003

While totally committed to a modern ethos, Usman Saeed maintains the elegant skills and sensitive perception of the miniature masters of old. Young as he is, the artist is no stranger to love and loss, a theme that threads his work as the leitmotif butterflies found in many of his miniature pieces,says Marjorie Husain

The large, airy studio shared by Usman Saeed and his sister Fatima runs through the lower floor of the house in Valencia designed by his elder brother, Umar, for his father, Saeed Akhtar, and the family. One end of the studio is set up for photography, very professional with all the accoutrements of the fashion photographer. Around the walls there are drawings, prints and pictures by the artists and their friends and paints, brushes and the usual glorious conglomeration of the practising artist’s tools. It is a place conducive to work and both the artists who are in their twenties are committed to their muse.

Usman, an incredibly talented ‘golden rocket’ of a person is witty and engaging, using his talents to the full. Musical metaphors, photo images and delicate linear patterns are found in his aesthetic vocabulary. In his third solo exhibition, currently taking place at the Canvas Gallery, Karachi, the artist invites guests beyond the illusion of a prepared and perfect stage to enter the ‘peace within chaos’ as he refers to the backstage scene.

Describing the artist’s viewpoint is a painting, Unplugged Stones, where there is a narrative focused on a guitar formed of song lyrics with personal connotations. A glowing, golden line that runs through the instrument links the artist’s two contrasting worlds. A tracery of exquisite, pencil drawn lines act as loose wires and switches that are as subtle as fine rain or tears. So much is tenderly suggested as associations and interpretations of dreams and memories are mingled in a fantasy of imaginative invention.

Discussing an exhibition of his work due to take place at the Waldorf, London, in October, Usman spoke of the experiences that have motivated his diverse involvements.

“I can clearly remember being fascinated by the birds and ships made of gold and silver paper by my nursery art teacher. From my earliest age I was exposed to the on-goings of art and culture of Lahore of the ’80s. My father taught sculpture, drawing and painting at the National College of Arts with utmost dedication and energy and I grew up absorbing the charisma, beauty and purity of all art forms. “From the beginning I was strongly inclined to the most academically basic of all the disciplines, pencil drawing. At home I was part of a loving protective triangle, my mother, Baji and Fatima. Our elder brother, Omar, was eight years older than I and always ready to give a helping hand.

“Abu belonged to a family with rich links to the greatest calligraphers of their times. From a schoolboy interested in making portraits, he struggled his way to a graduate from NCA with double distinctions in drawing and painting, to become a professor of Fine Art, a Fellow of the NCA and recipient of the President’s Pride of Performance. My father’s claim to fame, success and respect have been integrally linked to his boundless devotion to the art of teaching.

“Along with clearly demarcating the rights and wrongs for his children, he made the utmost efforts to fulfil our needs. As a little boy, I could flash my crayola markers and sketch books with pride and joy when very few parents would even consider these things for their children in those times. From an early age I was encouraged to attend children’s art workshops and to take part in the annual Pakistan Day art competitions.”

Usman is devoted to his family, appreciative of their respective talents and rightly so. Faica shows an exciting and unusual talent and hopefully she will show her work in Karachi in the coming months. Fatima, who took part in a group display of prints with her fiance Imran, is also brimful of potential. Each is supportive of the others.

“Umar set off to do his master’s in interior design from Pratt Institute, New York, after graduating in architecture, and Faica Baji, who was studying at the Fine Art Department of the Punjab University where she is currently a teacher, assumed the role of the eldest child. She has been a tremendous guiding light, extremely supportive and deeply encouraging and appreciative. Finally there is Fatima, my better half, the tom boy of our family, as kids we fought on every single thing under the roof but we grew up to share life’s most beautiful and painful moments. Whatever I have achieved so far, I could not have done without her. She is the friend for whom I do not have to use words to express my feelings.”

As is a common experience of many embryonic artists who, at best tolerate their school days, Usman was very different from the stereotype sport-crazy schoolboy.

“The brighter, happier aspects kept me sailing. My mother’s understanding of my nature, pride in my achievements and total acceptance of the person I am made me happy and comfortable”.

He came into his own on joining the National College of Arts, Lahore, as a young adult. There was offered a new, exciting world and he entered it with all the enthusiasm of his being.

“My first day at NCA (1995) was a complete dream come true. Those four years at NCA have been without doubt, the happiest years of my life to date. I was fortunate to get the best of teachers who taught us how to stand out in a crowd using our work and not ourselves. There I made my greatest friends, some of whom are now continents away but still very close to my heart.

“Majoring in miniature painting confirmed my sense of belonging to our roots, rich culture and the age old traditions of our part of the world. But also belonging equally to the internet age got me experimenting with machine oriented arts such as printmaking, and photography. I also had the opportunity to explore the performing arts, mime and music and was fascinated by the merging of the disciplines.

“My final thesis project, which proved to be an exhausting exercise in self-exploration, was inspired by the strongest of human bonds, that of a mother and child... I tried to incorporate all those sensibilities by working in different mediums learnt earlier in college.

“Soon after my graduation in ’99, I had the opportunity to join up with fashion designer, Maria Butt, as a motif designer. This experience gave reign to my flair for fashion, the art of make-up, and most important, photography.”

Usman’s parents had given him a most coveted camera as a graduation gift and he now had the means to develop his skills.

“After a year, I was ready for my first solo exhibition, The Eternal at the Zahoorul Akhlaq gallery, NCA, which featured body art photography and I used the human skin as the canvas to paint images from nature. Soon after that I was appointed to teach miniature painting and drawing at NCA. I had already the experience of teaching drawing at evening classes held at my father’s studio from ‘96 till the present.

“Returning to the miniature brought me home, and along with fashion photography, I started working for my second solo exhibition, which was held in Karachi in 2001.”

Devastated by the loss of his beloved mother, her constant faith in his ability was an armature that enabled Usman to come to terms with a world turned up-side down.

“At that time I felt blessed to be with her, speak to her, sing to her and remember her through the strokes of my Qalam. I exhibited a body of work later: Beliefs and Desires, a tribute to the strongest, most loving woman I have ever known.”

With a number of exciting options ahead Usman looks forward to the future.

“I am sure of one thing, I won’t stop painting ever; but channelled by the fun-loving side, my persona, I’m moving ahead with fashion photography. This enables me to make a deliberate effort to treat fashion just like all the other respected art forms.

“These past four years in the fashion industry have gifted me with a few great friends who are thorough professionals and talented collaborators, fashion designers, models, writers and stylists. My exhibition Backstage Passes at the Canvas Gallery, starts as the culmination of my various experiences of being a painter and fashion photographer at the same time. I have always been fascinated by studying contrasts within a reality. The realms of art and fashion at times blend with each other so well that I am awe-struck with finding such similar intentions, similar vocabularies and a similar essence.

“ Then at times I’m bombarded with issues that completely collide with each other. The tools techniques, temperaments, limitations, attitudes and relevance of time, all bear an individual voice, poles apart in the two disciplines,” concluded Usman Saeed.