ISLAMABAD: Two emerging artists have put their recent works on display on My Art World, an online platform.

The exhibition, titled In Pursuit Of, showcases over a dozen miniature paintings by Fariha Rashid and Suffah Naeem.

The paintings, mostly done in gouache on wasli in traditional miniature technique, are in fact catharsis of their emotions, depiction of the contradictions and conflicts, the injustices and violence against women and weaker segments of the society, sufferings of humanity and coexistence.

“My art is based on my perception of the positive and negative attitudes in the lives of human beings.

“It is not about their attractiveness which is normally associated with the body but instead it is about them searching for happiness amidst all negativity created in their lives by the society,” Ms Rashid said in her statement.

“There are so many things which need to be celebrated in one’s life; most of all the growth and bonding between relationships in which humans play an important role.

“All these thoughts are presented in different symbols like dolls, ropes and mannequins,” said the Lahore-based artist, who has done her MPhil in Art History from of the Punjab University and currently teaches fine arts at the Gujrat University.

“My work is a self-explanatory process, based on ‘self’; whatever I feel I paint on canvas - the anger, aggression and love. I experience all these emotions strongly and they compel me to paint them,” Ms Rashid adds.

She experiments with new techniques by using a mixed medium of gouache on mount sheet and on wasli paper. Ms Rashid has been drawing for the past four years. Her first solo show was held in Karachi.

On the other hand, Suffah Naeem believes in unity in diversity and paints it on canvas.

Society is opposite yet an integral part of one’s self. Like how society stops and an individual urges to grow and nourish, always individually, while mixing in society simultaneously. This process creates a dialectical method between the two, under the rules of unity of the opposites, Ms Suffah said in her statement.

Her work deals with the idea of the dichotomy and depicts “different things which are contradictory to each other but simultaneously work together”.

Ms Suffah is doing her PhD in studio practice from the College of Arts and Design, Punjab University.

Suffah Naeem’s works highlight the diversity, class contradictions between modernity and orthodoxy but their co-existence with harmony in society. However, in another painting, the Hijab (veil) is shown as surrounded by trees and bushes, which may lead the viewer to unintentionally link nature with womanhood - a slightly conservative idea.

In the ‘Stary Night’ series, Suffah depicts the contrasts in abstract compositions with bold colours using bright gold leaf in contrast with the muted blues at the bottom.

The exhibition will continue till October 10.

The work of the two artists is refreshing, said Zainab Umar, founder of My Art World and a pioneer of introducing virtual exhibition of art.

Talking to Dawn about online exhibits, Ms Umar said online exhibitions provided a unique platform to the artists as well as the Pakistani and Asian Diaspora in foreign countries.

They can’t get an opportunity to physically visit a gallery in their native countries but can easily get a sense of art through online platforms, she added.

Published in Dawn, September 29th, 2018