There is an amazing diversity in the way Pakistani visual artists express themselves. Having the opportunity to view a variety of exhibitions at various galleries one is able to see that all manners of style and medium are being explored, and as such no one ‘movement’ prevails. Just recently one had reviewed the work of artists where a riot of colour and design predominated, but alongside this mesmerising and skilful ‘eye candy’ one had the opportunity to view just the opposite of this style.

A good example of the latter was an exhibition titled, ‘Dimension one’ at the Drawing Studio in Lahore, where three young artists, Farrukh Adnan, Noureen Rasheed, and Aneela Khurshid, had displayed their recent works. All three had explored line, the basic element of design, as a medium for expression, focusing on this element in a predominantly abstract manner. It goes without saying that all drawing subscribes to the element of line, but in this exhibition, it was elevated to an exalted level as an entity that has a life and language of its own.

The primarily monotone discourse through lines had an almost meditative, tranquil effect, and as a viewer, one felt a sense of relief from the clamour and clutter surrounding one’s day-to-day life. Adnan’s fine lines that were meticulously repeated to form a grid like pattern on white paper were like inner landscapes that could quietly seep into one’s consciousness. A 2008 graduate of the National College of Arts, (NCA), he subscribes to the unpretentious clarity of modern artists like Piet Mondrian, though in an extremely subtle and delicate way.

Rasheed, a former student of the Naqsh School of Arts who has also graduated from the NCA, had brought a minimalistic and delicate quality to her work, though her manner seemed even more painstaking and intricate. Trained as a miniature artist, she had nonetheless opted for a completely abstract discourse, and had worked with fine thread to create her primarily linear compositions. The perfection of her lines made through thread work was rather amazing and she had added variety to this medium by adding bits of white lace, cloth and yarn to add texture as well as focus to some of the compositions in a rather innovative way.

Last but not least, Khursheed had worked on mirrors using paint and a mirror cutter to create her linear compositions that often appeared like a jigsaw puzzle with the viewer seeing his or her own image reflected in the picture. A young graduate of the University of Balochistan, her work was considerably less tranquil than the other three participants, and even replete with a sense of agony, and not surprising, given her association with the restive province she has lived in, and graduated from.

Currently studying as an MA visual arts student at the NCA, she has been catching the attention of various art connoisseurs at various forums.

‘Dimension one’, may have explored one basic element of art, but it did indeed bring together an engaging variety of mediums and thought processes. In addition, the coming together of young artists from diverse training credentials, including the NCA, the Naqsh School, and the University of Balochistan, was in itself unique and heartening, and almost a symbol of ‘unity in diversity’, which no doubt, is the need of the hour in our increasingly fragmented society.