This intro may or may not fit what Ashkal tries to portray through his work. He is now a seasoned artist and has been in the business of art for long enough to realise how creativity can be used to propagate ideas. His recent exhibition at Ashkal's Fine Art Gallery, Karachi, entitled, 'Folk Pakistan' has paintings and miniatures that represent his fondness for all things earthy and earthly. Mind you, that doesn't mean he's into mundane, everyday happenings. Rather, as the title of the exhibition suggests, the artist wants to express his fondness for the folklore and folk traditions that make our part of the world a unique entity.

Using acrylic on canvas, light but measured strokes, soft colours with clear, defined lines, Ashkal tries to bring out the very basics of folk life with a view to highlighting the drudgery and toil involved in it. One finds a scene taken out of a horse and cattle show (with a white horse dancing to the beat of the dhol) and a sight common in our rural areas (a cobra slithering out of a box to the tune of a bansuri played by the snake-charmer) in hues and shades that almost look real. Even their static nature being in a painting that makes them have a pictorial appeal doesn't dilute their close-to-life illusion.“A lot of artists take pictures of their subjects and then paint. I don't do that. I have studied art. I visit different places and talk to people. This helps me draw them as realistically as it's possible,” says Ashkal.

There's one painting that the artist makes a special mention of. There are two Afghan children in it; they are rag-pickers carrying sacs over their tiny shoulders. It's a nice work of art delineating life at its truest, something that many artists tend to overlook. Especially noticeable in the picture are the overused shoes that one of the boys has put on.

It can be said, the exhibition is a decent effort in trying to transform subjective truth into objective reality.