Gifted with a stunningly sharp observation and facility to play comfortably with delicate lines, Sachal Rizvi was born to an architect. His father would gave him the cutouts of various printed images of animals which he excitingly paste on his scrap book and cherish them as treasures during junior school days. Learning drawing at the studio of Prof Muhammad Asif made a lasting impression on his mind.

“I would look curiously the way he plays with lines while demonstrating the drawing for students. It was like a magic that mesmerised and inspired me to draw in a joyful manner,” he acknowledges.

“I was exposed to a variety of people from different ethnic origins and various genres of visual and performing arts while majoring in architecture from National College of Arts. During final year I studied the concept of spaces narrated in ‘Alice in Wonderland’ , it was a watershed moment that helped shape my artistic expression,” he narrates.

While sketching for animations he studied the architecture of city. The passion to draw further developed when he, along with other friends, formed Lahore Sketch Group. It is a group comprising professional and amateur artists sketching at parks and old city almost every Sunday.

“Working on spot helped me develop observations and skills to draw and it led to the body of work I created in the last couple of years,” Rizvi says.

He earns his living by practising as an architect and interior designer.

“Almost every day I use to scribble and compose drawings rather than wasting time on social media networks. Working independently regardless of deadlines for the shows like whole time artists gives me a room to experiment and conceive the visuals in a way of my own. The freedom from the demands of art market and existing trends is my strength as a visual artist,” he believes.

A couple of drawings he executed in collaboration with fellow artist Bibi Hajra, are remarkable works to his credit. They are passionately observed and skilfully composed visual statements narrating the life of an overcrowded city struggling and breathing amid chaos. The huge billboards dominating the skyline, commercial buildings and massive concrete structures erected for metro train, in these visuals, serve as a backdrop for the street life of commoners busy in their daily routine. Each and every segment of these works have a detailed story, a visual treat, to captivate the viewers.

“I look at the city on movement and also at the temporary stillness of built form. Most of the time I see the city as textures of meaning. Every part of it (the city) means many different things to different people. What city produces is not the objects but the meaning people associate with objects. City is fundamentally relational and it is an assemblage of relations, layers of meanings understood subjectively and objectively at the same time,” he explains his work illustrating city life.

Most of his works rendered in intricate details with sensitive linear strokes carries the aura of life in the walled city. He experiments observing and portraying the rustic architectural structures and street scenes with unusual view points. His works rendered by pen and ink on paper, reflects a lot of patience and sound understanding of drawing the architectural structures. They have a strong visual impact especially when are composed against the negative spaces.

Published in Dawn, November 26th, 2018