Upcoming Lahore-based artist Sameen Agha’s first solo show in London, at Indigo+Madder’s new exhibition space, aptly titled ‘Catalyst’, is a collection of conceptually distinct artworks comprising sculpture and painting installations.

The minimalist nature of the work, dispersed intentionally within the low-set architecture of the gallery space at various eye-levels, demands an intimate inspection of the pieces, despite their relatively life-sized scale. This is because the installations intrigue through imitation and deception. However, they lack coherence, as the pieces fail to communicate with each other.

The artist statement asserts that, “Agha’s practice explores the emotional landscape of home while considering its social and physical attributes as they intersect with gender and self-identity.”

The ‘physical attributes’ in this pronouncement are the inspiration behind the use of white marble, commonly found in shrines and mosques across the country, as well as in homes, often utilised as a means to display grandeur.

Agha is interested in architecture and infrastructure, and she experiences these domains through her body and its movements. It was with this in mind that the irregular positioning of the works, ie on the floor, partly concealed behind the exposed metal structure of the columns, placed at unusual heights, and so on, was implemented in the gallery. It was an allocation that made the viewer a performer, albeit involuntarily.

This need to bend, stand on tip-toe, and/or tilt sideways to view the works was meant to evoke how the artist perceives the built environment around her. However, the intended spectacle loses meaning and is merely an ostensible and unnecessary way to communicate the artist’s conceptual trajectory.

The work titled Grace is composed of a painting that is framed with what appears to be lace but is in fact Ziarat white marble, successfully replicating the delicate form of lace, lending it an air of femininity. In warm hues of peach and brown, the painting depicts faux flowers inexplicably hovering in the corner of a room, in an off-centre composition. This piece exudes a feminine air that is very different to the other pieces in the show, although they are all meant to reference gender identity.

The contradiction of marble as lace, alongside the artist’s peculiar technique of painting, which gives the image a washed-out look, makes Grace a subtle and beautiful piece. The dichotomy implied by the contrasting materials, such as the hard-wearing marble intricately carved to depict ornamental lace, which reproduces the feel of soft fabric so convincingly, is reminiscent of realist painter Shakeel Siddiqui’s artworks that used this technique as an illusory trick.

In this body of work, material is of utmost importance, and the only unifying factor. Agha expressed a keen interest in the kind of marble used. Besides the Ziarat white marble, Nowshera marble is also used in some pieces, selected specifically by the artist because of its sanguine tones and texture. For Agha, this texture evokes a visceral visual, analogous to the intricacies of the internal human body, such as veins and blood.

The work titled When the Night is Full of Stars, Take Me Home, is an interesting work — a painting of fireworks against a dark night sky. This canvas, set against the wall on the floor, has a small solid marble house, which resembles the schema of childhood drawings of homes, placed in front of it. This installation, echoing a tableau of sorts, presents a surreal 2D and 3D miniature vision, housed within the confines of a gallery. There is the beginning of an idea here that feels like it is not fully realised yet and remains trapped in this work.

Undoubtedly, certain pieces in ‘Catalyst’ are like parts of an unresolved puzzle and would benefit from evolving through a holistic approach that connects the disparate pieces in this show.

However, bearing in mind the significance of materiality in this oeuvre, it is safe to say that material carries its own meanings and may be sufficient on its own, rather than the inconclusive cognitive processes that, at best, seemed contrived.

‘Catalyst’ is on display at Indigo+Madder, London from July 26-September 21, 2024

The reviewer is a freelance writer and has written for various organisations including Dawn, ArtNow, and The Karachi Collective

Published in Dawn, EOS, August 25th, 2024