Shahzia Sikander
Yin Yang, 2020
Ink, gouache on hand prepared paper
208.3 x 129.5 cm
82 x 51 in
82 x 51 in
Copyright The Artist
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'Imagination is a wondrous human trait linked to the Yin Yang of life and death, dark and light, conflict and erosion. Playing with that concept, the abstract feminine forms in...
"Imagination is a wondrous human trait linked to the Yin Yang of life and death, dark and light, conflict and erosion.
Playing with that concept, the abstract feminine forms in this painting interact to form a dynamic system in which the whole is greater than the assembled parts. What I refer to as the female are these fragmented shapes that are silhouettes of a head with the hair intact, re-imagined from representation of female saints in historical Indian miniature paintings.
I have painted these kinetic forms in ink and gouache are in layers of varying opacity,while letting the fluid nature of ink also capture my hands' quick movement to inject the illusion of space and velocity, sort of channeling the tradition of Chinese landscapes and scroll paintings.
In my work, female protagonists are proactive, playful, confident and connected to the past in imaginative ways. These androgynous forms though deeply female are equally singular and can fluctuate easily between genders, conveying the resilience and multidimensionality of femininity."
Shahzia Sikander, 2020
Playing with that concept, the abstract feminine forms in this painting interact to form a dynamic system in which the whole is greater than the assembled parts. What I refer to as the female are these fragmented shapes that are silhouettes of a head with the hair intact, re-imagined from representation of female saints in historical Indian miniature paintings.
I have painted these kinetic forms in ink and gouache are in layers of varying opacity,while letting the fluid nature of ink also capture my hands' quick movement to inject the illusion of space and velocity, sort of channeling the tradition of Chinese landscapes and scroll paintings.
In my work, female protagonists are proactive, playful, confident and connected to the past in imaginative ways. These androgynous forms though deeply female are equally singular and can fluctuate easily between genders, conveying the resilience and multidimensionality of femininity."
Shahzia Sikander, 2020