Over the years, artist Heraa Khan has cast a critical, mocking eye at women of a certain age at kitty parties. Cackling chubby aunties on sofas, seated figures with feet in a tub, arms stretched out in anticipation of a manicure; chandeliers hang from ceilings, the heels are high, the chairs gilded and the clothes are decorative.
In a recent show at Karachi’s Chawkandi art gallery, Khan exhibited her latest works in “All that glisters is not gold”. Given that she is trained as a miniaturist, you appreciate the joy with which she breaks the careful confines of the tradition, following Shahzia Sikander – celebrity and mother to all miniature painters who pushed and poked miniature painting to new territories.
"Amity and Life"
Khan's gaze appears kinder, gentler at times, and if she is laughing, I cannot tell, because I feel a lot of love for (I am told) the Nani in her paintings.
In this series, however, Khan’s gaze appears kinder, gentler at times, and if she is laughing, I cannot tell, because I feel a lot of love for (I am told) the Nani (maternal grandmother) in her paintings. In fact “Deceived with Ornament”, has a melancholy feel, with the character’s ageing skin glowing, like a grand creature with regrets. She emerges from an ornate smoky backdrop. The result is rich and mysterious.
"Deceived with Ornament"
The pieces are large, some going up to 50 inches. In “Peize the time”, two women laugh as a cup of tea is being poured. The expressions and postures are reminiscent of a tea ad – the delicacy with which the tea is poured, the photogenic laugh and head tilt, the carefully placed cup. The beauty of this piece lies in the fact that their faces and hands are painstakingly realistic while their hair and clothes are a flat, surprising salmon. They reside in a plane of plants and dinner plates (they include the Monstera — a potted fixture in most homes) The plants poke through, sometimes linear, sometimes solid.
If she is mocking the women, the viewer would disagree. I’m drawn to the two ladies laughing with their pretty tea cups and sensible jewelry. And I feel a lot of reverence for the Nani and can see she would have a lot to say and I would like to listen. An interesting piece is “Much more dismay”, where a pigtailed girl’s grave expression peeks through veils of pattern. Her expression is so grown up: at first glance you think it is an older woman, if it weren’t for the hairstyle and school uniform. Khan’s strength is in the personality and emotion she is able to convey — an element that is lost when she sticks to just planes of design. She flounders when there are only flat patterns.
A detail from "Much More Dismay"
Khan's gaze appears kinder, gentler at times, and if she is laughing, I cannot tell, because I feel a lot of love for (I am told) the Nani in her paintings.
It is beautiful how she plays with dinner plate patterns in her paintings and when you turn your head in the show there is a collection of painted antique ceramic plates. These had a joyous spontaneity and playfulness that clearly resonated as they were all sold. Painstakingly painted over traditional dinner plates — a flamingo tiptoes among polka dots, two high heeled legs poke through a bouquet of flowers — the results were delightful.
In one called “treasure house” the figure reclines, surrounded by patterns, it’s reminiscent of lawn joras and the envy and competition that surrounds the fight for them. Khan’s themes are topical: drive down the road, or walk into a mall, images of women in flowers, Romanesque designs, zigzags, flora and fauna. The surging demand for lawn prints has made textile design degrees popular and lucrative, but in turn has created females in chaotic, confused clothes. Our ideas of social gatherings have also changed — ‘red carpet’ ‘society pages’, where a family celebration is woven from an event manager’s bag of tricks, and the differences in a toddler birthday and a brand launch are scanty. Khan’s rich paintings are evocative and beautifully relevant.
Zehra Hamdani Mirza is a Karachi based artist and writer. http://www.zehramirza.com/
