There is a certain level of contrast between an individual’s inner world and what reaches the surface. Our thoughts are ours alone and most of us may live an entire lifetime without ever allowing even a glimpse to another soul, no matter how overt our personalities and relationships may be. In his latest show at the Chawkandi Art Gallery, Abdul Jabbar Gull uses his signature sculptural motifs to talk about his own inner thoughts and their relationship with the physical world.

The exhibit titled Winged Thoughts is an addition to the artist’s decade-old series featuring his winged metal figurines, combining various shapes and symbols in a series of wall hangings and 3D sculptural pieces to craft his narrative. The works are a combination of brass, aluminium and steel upon wooden surfaces of sheesham, dayar and partal fashioned through a variety of handcrafted and mechanical techniques to skilled perfection. The results are, as always, not just conceptually moving but visually striking and technically flawless.

Winged Thoughts — or parvaz-i-khayal as one might say in Urdu — speaks of the wandering mind that explores the metaphysical world without bounds, reaching higher levels of awareness and reasoning. The winged figures in Gull’s works are not representative of any entity with a physical form despite their angel-like appearance, but are fragments of thoughts and ideas that take flight and paint the artist’s imaginations, becoming a pathway to spiritual ascension. Yet, a connection is maintained with the physical world through the geometric shapes and patterns that tie these thoughts together.

Abdul Jabbar Gull uses his signature sculptural motifs to express his inner thoughts and their relationship to the physical world

Throughout his works Gull speaks of the interaction of the dichotomous worlds of the physical and the spiritual, each represented through mechanical geometry and organic symbolism respectively as well as the soft organic material of the wood and the hard, cold metal. The closed eyes of the faces that appear in some of the works are a kind of transitory element, shutting out the physical world and entering the spiritual one in deep contemplation. These winged thoughts then flutter through musings originating from Gull’s everyday life experiences. For instance, we see religious iconography from different faiths such as the Christian Cross, the Jewish Star of David, Arabic text and Islamic patterns, which tie into the artist’s views of the similarities between the teachings of these religions in their most basic essence, which become violently opposed when corrupted by human intervention.

These thoughts that appear to wander aimlessly are tamed through the introduction of the takhti — symbolising awareness for the artist — and become further grounded through the grids that serve as a surface for the scattered figurines. Thought is not careless and imagination is not purposeless, but is rather given order and direction so that they acquire meaningful sophistication, in turn helping the artist to resolve certain questions and formulate new ideas. The geometric shapes present in multiple works seem to serve the same purpose.

While the artist has previously kept to a dull and monochromatic scheme, here he introduces colour by staining his wood in greens and ultramarines. To him the colour blue represents the open sky and its endless possibilities. The effect this creates is rather calming, especially in the biggest piece that is a large field of a vibrant blue grid with the golden winged figures floating about. Placed upon the far wall of the gallery, the piece sets the spiritual mood of the show.

The overall experience is one of a spiritual journey of peace and tranquility. The deep richness of the blues combined with wood and gold of the brass is rather soothing, the feeling magnified by the various symbols and shapes that come together in each piece. As the artist contemplates the world around him, the audience too is invited to give flight to their thoughts to reach a higher level of physical and spiritual awareness.

“Winged Thoughts” was on display at the Chawkandi Art Gallery from September 12 till September 20, 2017

Published in Dawn, EOS, October 22nd, 2017