A group show was recently held at Full Circle Gallery. The show exhibited the works of Farrukh Addnan, Hira Mansur, Shaukat Ali Khokar, Shazia Jaffery and Yameena Zahra Salman and was curated by FS Karachiwala.

Curator, FS Karachiwala shares, “patterns are all about repetition, rhythm and in an abstract and minimal form which is when integrated into a form of art, a certain vision and mood is created. This exhibition discovers different patterns of life by the artists displaying their work through personal memories and experiences, spiritual connection with Almighty, reflection of different relationships and solitary confinement”.

Farrukh Addnan’s studio practice is focused on ancestral roots and archaeology. Exploring personal memory of space/place, collective historical events and cultural depictions , archival research is undertaken at his hometown ancient Tulamba, located in Southern Punjab, Pakistan. “Archaeology allows a connection with the current situation in most of today’s world and serves as foundation for my work exploration. With the aspects which shift from memory to symbols. And memory serves to carve and create an independent narrative of time/place.” His work is presented in abstract form using dots, lines, marks, letters, symbols and patterns.

Hira Mansur work is based in personal history as an adopted child and her memories and experiences with her adoptive mother. She considers herself a product of her biological mother and her adoptive mother. One gave her life and the other taught her how to live it. “In her work animals and objects morph into one another, seamlessly speaking of beauty, slow passage of time, yearning of loss, she thinks of these as empathetic portrays of her adoptive mother. Assembled compositions reflect her childhood experience, surrealist collages speak to the process of hybridisation.” Her work is detailed and intricate. Some of her work she has combined paintings with images created in needle pricks – these are a direct reference to her adoptive mother who found comfort and pleasure in sewing. The repeated pattern of needle piercings shows a familiar childhood memory that left a deep impact on her. The piercing is perhaps also hinting at women who go through infertility and often suffer physically and emotionally.

Yameen Zahra Salman work is rooted in her personal experiences as an artist, educator and above all a woman who plays a number of roles within her home and outside. “The drawings and prints have come out of observation and contemplation of the different elements within her home, and her relation to these. The rhythm of repetitive tiles from the flooring of her home symbolises the threshold of her home, and the wallpaper like sensibility as well as providing the structure and pattern of everyday routine and chores. The transformation of the floor tiles into floral pattern represents the garden, a fertile and fecund work consisting of organic and whimsical elements.”

Each artist brings something different and extremely personal to them in this show, but their art allows us a glimpse in to their minds and experiences.

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