ISLAMABAD: Mystic poets, writers and artists have explained the philosophy of afterlife and eternity of love in many ways and forms. In Rumi’s word’s: “I died as a mineral and became a plant, I died as a plant and rose to animal, I died as an animal and I was man.”

Artist Mahvish Noman has depicted this philosophy, and the metamorphosis and resurrection of life, very subtly in paintings that are part of an exhibition of six upcoming female artists at the Nomad Gallery.

The group show titled The Differences Make the Whole was opened by Senator Salim Zia on Saturday, featuring 30 artworks.

In her painting ‘Resurrection’, done in soot and acrylic on canvas, Ms Noman has depicted the metamorphosis of humans in three stages in the exotic forms of peacocks, ducks and birds.

“When we die and are buried, we evolve, we achieve freedom and sovereignty,” she said. This she has depicted in ‘To Perish with Joy’, done in soot on canvas through fire art, showing the short life span of a butterfly.

Meanwhile, in her painting ‘Despite her Age’, Ms Noman has represented a woman in her two forms: her youth and her old age; and her strong bond with her offspring and nature.

Speaking to Dawn, she explained: “The bright green, red and brown colours depict a woman as one of the most beautiful part of nature in every age. The leaf represents her offspring to which she is emotionally and physically attached at every age whether young or old.”

One of the other exhibiting artists, Tayyaba Aziz, is a talented abstract cubo-expressionist painter. Her four works on display, done in oil on canvas, depict feminists changing time, distorted figures in 3-D and bright colours.

She has shown clocks and distorted figures in four giant paintings depicting constant change in life.

“Time won’t stop for anyone, it flies in every second and every passing time leaves some expression on our personality. Time is what keeps everything from happening at once,” she said.

Hafsa Zahid Umar, an Islamabad-based artist, depicts the essence of life preserved in the remains of animals by giving an entirely new anatomical structure to their bones, a kind of second life and a new purpose to them in her bone and eproxy resin series.She told Dawn: “Conflicting narratives have always fascinated me and enticed me to search new dimensions of life and beauty; the most challenging part of my journey has been eradicating all forms of life from these remains, as I found that life continues to grow in corrosive forms even after death.”

Her interest lies mainly in sculpture and painting, although she also takes an interest in performance art.

Ms Umar, who graduated in fine art from Beaconhouse National University this year, wants to study the essence of life preserved in the remains of the dead, scavenged as by-products of various kitchens.

She also questions the boundaries of the grotesque and their coexistence with the preset standards of beauty, and how they may change with familiarity or association.

Eemaan Raja’s work engages with self-reflection, the cycle of memories, constraints and limitations of life and uses art as therapy. She has taken some pages from a diary she maintained for 10 years, as well as self-addressed letters, and turned them into art pieces in the Diary and Letters series.

The self-taught artist’s work is an investigation into memory and the subconscious. “Testing the body limits and how the human psyche works, play a very important role in my work. It talks about the body and its relationship with myself and the viewer,” she said.

Sameera Khan, originally from Hunza and now settled in Denmark, has two pieces ‘Riksha’ and ‘Mini Buson’ display, which reflect the contrast of old and new Pakistan, a very bold comment on the current political situation.

Lahore-based artist Shireen Rasul’s works mostly depict nightmares and experiences of lucid dreaming coupled with the egotistic nature of man. The intense and emotional nature of her works is strengthened by manipulating animalistic references, thus creating unique characters and imagery.

The show will continue through November 7.

Published in Dawn, October 29th , 2018

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