KARACHI, April 14: In Ovid’s masterpiece ‘Metamorphoses’ a sculptor, Pygmalion, falls in love with his own statue. As fate would have it, Aphrodite brings the sculpture to life but its creator, Pygmalion, overlooks the fact that the statue can now think on her own, has feelings, has her own body and an independent mind. Such is the magical power of mythology and creativity.

An exhibition of sculptor Talat Dabir’s terracotta work (sculptures and reliefs) titled Aag, mitti aur pani opened at the Artscene Galleries on Saturday. The artist is no Pygmalion, but the work that she does has a close-to-life feel to it. To gauge the verity of this claim a visit to the exhibition will suffice.

It is remarkable how Talat Dabir has dealt with the human figures as if they are ageless and enduring creatures. It is quite likely. However, if you spend a little more time watching the exhibits, it might dawn on you that the artist has targeted a certain epoch, which can go beyond the confines of time. There is a thread, albeit tenuous, that binds all the pieces on display.

The striking feature of the somewhat stretched figures is that despite the hard work that has gone into shaping the arms, hands and necks, it is the faces that demand more attention.

Reason being: in spite of having a singular expression they exude multiple emotions. This can be supported by the fact that it is not just one character that Talat Dabir is striving to study and explore. Animals (and some other important elements) that accompany the characters signify the examination of a symbiosis that is an essential point of reference in our psycho-social studies from the historic perspective. Mind you, these characters do not come from one stratum of society. They are as varied in status as they are in form, hence, the title of the show Aag, mitti aur pani (fire, earth and water).

The exhibition will continue till April 21.