One of the most intriguing qualities of art is the way it exposes the unique peculiarities in each of us as individuals through the vastly diverse ways in which each artist approaches the subject. Not only do we look at things differently, we express and interpret them in distinctive ways as well, which inevitably reveals certain interesting and significant details about our inherent personalities. In VM Art Gallery’s latest group show, A Stitch in Time, this is something both overtly discussed as well as inadvertently reflected through the ways in which the works are presented.

The four-person show brings together works by recent graduates of the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture — Sarah Mir, Shahana Afaq, Rabia Ali and Maryam Arslan — all of whom have depicted human emotions in their own unique way. The imagery in most of the works is of mundane objects and settings, presented in the artist’s personal style. Each artist paints a portrait; whether it is abstract mark-making representing the emotions within or objects that carry significant human associations, the human presence can’t be missed.

Mir’s work presents some exciting visuals with her gestural portrait drawings akin to illustrations in children’s books, with disproportionate bodies, heads and limbs rendered in overlapping squiggles. Group photos from family events are fused with a certain energy and movement, granted immunity from cultural and religious policing through its distance from realism. Her work is a good example of how certain artworks can reveal so much through their omissions and distortions.

Four artists explore human emotions and depict them in unexpected forms

Afaq and Arslan’s works bear stark resemblance to one another in terms of the content, yet differ in style. Both claim to be portraits, but while Afaq creates associations between people and the objects they interact with, Arslan’s work is more of a self-portrait discussing her own demons. Afaq’s paintings are alive with movement, again veering away from realistic representation and utilising a dark and sombre pallet. Her plates of leftovers and dirty dishes in the sink are manifestations of human activity, a scene of what we leave behind, and a reflection of what it says about us. For Afaq, human nature is defined through its relationship with what we use and consume, and what we choose to discard. Arslan seems to look at food as an unhealthy obsession, deliciously painting her cupcakes in swirling impasto. Set against toxic addictions such as cigarettes and healthier choices such as apples, the work seems to be dealing with personal vices and the idea of making changes for the better.

Ali’s abstracted visuals are in contrast to the rest of the works in the show, solely depicting colour and loosely defined organic shapes. Her work deals with emotions and memory in a more obvious way, by looking at brain activity and how our mind retains an event. Her bold gestural strokes executed in enamel paint on large canvases are inspired by brain scans of the artist where various areas of the brain lit up to denote various thoughts, sensations, reactions and functions. Our emotions and personality plays a large part in what we choose to remember, and how we remember it, placing greater importance on details of sentimental value, even fabricating scenarios or painting them in positive or negative lights based on emotional states and associations. These investigations lead one to wonder to what degree our own mental hard drives can be trusted, and where the blurred line between memory and imagination lies.

Depictions of human nature are a tricky thing; a lot of what is revealed is unintentional and unplanned. The choices the artist makes when depicting any subject helps the audience read into not only the subject itself, but the artist’s own relationship with it. All four artists in this show speak of human emotion, while either distorting or completely eliminating the human form, perhaps to delve deeper and go beyond the physical, or to simply escape the confines of a definitive depiction of the body. While these portraits may be seeking to present a certain point of view, it is usually what is not shown (or shown subconsciously) that tells the real story.

“A Stitch in Time” was on display at the VM Art Gallery from August 7 till August 17, 2017

Published in Dawn, EOS, August 27th, 2017