‘Expressing unresolved internal struggles’

Creative art often attempts to capture thoughts and feelings buried deep in the subconsciousness. This type of creativity aims to cause people to indulge in introspective thinking and make use of their imaginative powers.

The artworks put on display by artists Sanie Bokhari and Zahrah Ehsan at an exhibition, titled “Un-thinking”, held recently at the Canvas Gallery in Clifton, are an effort to portray such thoughts.

Sanie Bokhari, one of the two artists whose paintings are being exhibited at the show, says, “In my paintings, I began to use perspectival cues and distortions to superimpose myself on a visualised power structure, as a reimagining of the female experience with authority, influence and free expression.

“My goal is to create a platform for a cultural dialogue with my questioning of local tradition, prepare my work in a way which describes how the culture grew up and the culture I have discovered.”

She further says, “I express my ideas in terms of paint. I like to use material choices that examine gender assumptions, such as the impersonal being masculine, while the personal is often seen as feminizing.”

A statement put next to a painting by another artist, Zahrah Ehsan, says: “My work plays with incarceration within expectations that are continually undelivered. Therefore, my paintings

are an immediate expression of an unresolved internal struggle.

“The separation between different elements is complicating or may be resolving my image space and creating the whole process cathartic.”

Neha, a visitor, shared her experience, “I think an unthinking art is an intense and personal thing. It is not just how you see an object or scene, but how your brain reacts to it.”

“What I adore most about unthinking art is that it’s not constrained to the external world of the five senses. It permits the artist and the observer the chance to prospect the internal planes of presence — the brain, the heart, the spirit, in a more straightforward manner,” said another visitor, Faraz.

Rahema Nadeem, Mahrukh Rizvi and Kashif Shayari contributed this report