Amongst the vast variety of genres available
within the discipline of literature, ‘children literature’ is a sincere promise
of complexity punctuated by signs and symbols. The folk-cum-fantasy tale of
the Little Red Riding Hood epitomises the same intricate
network of literary devices. Multimedia artist Shahzia Sikander, with her
visual language adds wings to Little Red Riding Hood,
metaphorically, that lets her fly to enjoy gymnastics in the red and white
striped suit or even carry a face of the woman from Indo-Persian miniature
painting. Many artists draw influence from mythology and other creative arts,
but a few of them truly blend the aesthetic of the two successfully with their
artistic oeuvre.
Red
Riding Hood, 1997Image Credit: Courtesy of Shahzia Sikander
Sikander has a vast variety of critically
engaging works that are rooted in her feminist and Muslim perspectives, never
far from her transnational Pakistani-American identity. Currently living and
working in New York, Sikander talks about her passion for literature in an
interview, “I see myself as a thinker. Literary histories, poetry, ghazal,
rap, fiction, opera are magical places of departures for me. Such an interface
with language has been hand in hand with my growth as a visual artist and an
individual interested in story-telling and collaborative works.”
Shahzia Sikander; Image Credit: Courtesy of Matthias_Ziegle
The accomplishment of the art forms does not limit its demands to admiration, but its sustenance is dependent on expanding its scope to let the artists experiment with its language. In a similar vein, given the finesse and intricate work of Indo-Persian miniature paintings, Sikander has persistently strived to re-examine its patronage, origin and ownership. The richness of the illuminated manuscripts and unarchived materials has been a repository of signs and symbols to add to her contemporary visual idiom. Interestingly, the wide usage of media and scales of her artworks – from murals, multichannel single-image video to permanent public-art, allow her to effectively translate these knowledge-systems to the artworks.
Gopi-Contagion, 2015. HD video animation on digital LED billboards Image Credit: Courtesy of Shahzia Sikande
Mary-Am, a permanent public art fountain; Image Credit: Courtesy of Shahzia Sikander
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