Female Artists Visualize Feminine Sensitivity On Canvas

ISLAMABAD, Nov 2 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 2nd Nov, 2022 ) :A group of four female artists here Wednesday displayed their art works featuring figurative art and symbolism to visualize the feminine sensitivity on canvas.

'The Spark', a group show of paintings by Aimen Manzoor, Amna Rahman, Khadijah Rehman and Zara Asgher, was put on display for general public and art lovers at Satrang Art Gallery under the banner of cultural diplomacy to promote art and artists.

The paintings explored the body and its invisible energetic force uniting it with its surroundings. The exhibition considers the ancient knowledge that the body retains the energetic response of individuals connecting to each other, environments, ideas or even themselves.

Aimen Manzoor explores the relationship to the ordinary or seemingly mundane. The compositions and stark colors of her paintings warp these otherwise simplistically realistic or banal scenes, drawing attention to her subjects engaged in habitual and repetitive activities.

A figurative painter by interest, Manzoor likes to play with scale in her paintings. A contrast can be seen in her work regarding this- on one hand she works on large scale canvases in oils and on the other, she works on small scale illustrative portraits, rendered in watercolors.

"My work characterizes itself as mostly figurative by nature. I take inspiration from the everyday happenings and experiences. My work revolves around translating compositions I find interesting from my observation of everyday into paintings.

"The figurative nature of my work is complemented by a few odd characteristics such as breaking the traditional way of painting a landscape horizontally, I have resorted to painting it vertically.

"Moreover, a very odd saturated color of the sky and a very off perspective makes the paintings somewhat surreal but also portrays how I connect to my surroundings," Aimen commented on her work.

Khadijah Rehman also explores the familiar � often the familial or fictitious, delicate moments captured within her intricate paintings.

She borrows from family photographs which she embellishes with vivid patterns, minute details and traditions of Persian and Mughal miniatures.

The deliberate inclusion of unlikely elements such as exotic motifs, the placement of animals and other dreamlike imagery create staged and layered tableaus, exploring relationships and interactions.

Khadijah - a Lahore based visual artist has displayed her work locally and internationally, and works in both traditional and digital mediums. Her work delves into the otherworldly quality of night-time introspections, particularly dreamscapes, caught within reminiscences of everyday moments of love, longing and solitude.

Amna Rahman and Zara Asgher, both highlight the careful navigation of the body, primarily the female body, within a patriarchal male-centric society. Amna's figures, painted within spaces she deems as "safe" are completely at ease, engaged in conversations, comfortable with themselves and their surroundings.

"The paintings are a narration of my lived experiences of multiple realities, depicting the traits of female beings, their complexities and how they perish in the searing heat of a myriad of emotions. Recurring themes in my work draw on personal memories charged with emotions, duality, subconscious machinations of the human psyche as well as self-reflection," Amna shared her experience.

Zara's work explores the gendered quality of her surroundings, particularly highlighting how public spaces in Pakistan are heavily occupied by male bodies. Her drawings of repeating patterns of bodies highlight the structures of hierarchies she has seen.

These artists have used various mediums including Gouache and gold leaf on paper, etching and oil on canvas to create images that combine both figurative art and symbolism to visualize their messages.