It is fascinating that certain distinctive reactions arise from individual viewers while looking at works of art via a process called aesthetic development. Ranging from simple concrete observations to acquired perceptions and knowledge to a more interactive and spontaneous encounter with a work of art, the observer gathers and categorises what he or she can understand with careful observation and discussion.

A similar experience was encountered at a three-person miniature exhibition at Islamabad’s Gallery 6, the show being titled, ‘Misplacements displacements’. The participating artists were Amna Hashmi who graduated from the NCA, Lahore in 2005, Hira Zubair from the NCA, Rawalpindi in 2011 and Abid Aslam from Hunerkada, Lahore in 2010. Although all three graduated worked in miniature painting, their outstanding style of painting and technique represent a variety of possibilities in this school of thought.

Displaying two series, ‘Creation of Io’ and ‘Convenient fairytales’, Hashmi’s art work has an interesting distortion attached.Instead of employing the typical figurative object related imagery, she has transformed a serious topic of blame, dishonesty and misplacement to a narrative of fairies and enchanting beings. The ideology of blame is used to justify social injustice or contempt against the weak; in Hashmi’s whimsical work it is the humans blaming the fairies and it is here when the blame game begins. Watercolour, gouache, gold and silver leaf are prominent mediums which create a sense of spontaneity and spirituality in the imagery.

Zubair’s eight miniatures focus on a development of soft revolution in Pakistan by observing the current problematic situations in the country. By trying to create awareness through her visual skill, she relates her imagery with the history and ideology of Pakistan by highlighting the general feeling of negativity amongst the people of Pakistan. Zubair’s work is skillfully manipulated with constant depictions of the Quaid-i-Azam and the Pakistani flag, where the viewer is invited to bring complex and nuanced personal sensibilities and insights into viewing her work.

Aslam’s 10 pieces are an exploration of material, which are respectively used to investigate the role of links and networks existing within a socio-economic system. Gouache, punch buttons and gold leaf are prominent factors which are applied in his images, and by using distortions and displacing the gadgets in his imagery he creates a sense of chaos in his work. Positioning the items in a deceitful manner, Aslam questions himself and the observer about the relationship each item has. This shift actualises the correspondence within a particular society.

Focusing on the exhibition as a single unit, a collaborative effort on the part of all three artists is evident in stressing on the uneasy situation in Pakistan’s socio economic and political situation. The imagery succeeds the surface and the viewer strives to comprehend the artist’s revelation in beautifully rendered in colours, precise draftsmanship and imaginative compositions.