writer and founder of Art Middle East Nazy Nazhand
in Gifts of the Sultan? How has
traditional art influenced your practice?
From the very beginning of my
artistic practice, my intension was to create a
dialogue as well as to explore the
viability of an interaction with a traditional
genre, and many aspects of my work
are the outcome of examining the
traditional Indo-Persian miniature
paintings.
In 1986, as a student at the
National College of Arts in Lahore, I realized that
there was an open opportunity in
the Miniature Painting Department in that no
one was exploring these paintings
as a vehicle for contemporary expression, and
thus my choice of examining the
tradition of book illustration within the context
of Indo-Persian miniatures. Because
many students were not interested in
pursuing this, it became possible
for me to explore a new path. Working with the
inherent complexities of
“traditional art” was a paradox of choice, allowing me
to create an intellectual debate
and a new way of asking questions.
2-
What are your thoughts on museum exhibitions like Gifts of the Sultan
that juxtapose historical and
contemporary artworks?
I would like to see an exhibition
where such juxtapositions are the main crux of the show.
3-
Where are you currently based? One of the major themes in Gifts of the Sultan
is that of cross-cultural interaction and exchange; what are your thoughts on
this theme and how does the geographical location of where you work influence
your perspective?
I am based in New York. I also
spend several months each year outside of the US working from many other
locations. In the recent 4–5 years I have worked in Germany, Italy, Laos, and Pakistan. The theme of the show is a great
parallel to the mobility that many contemporary artists enjoy as well
as seek for production of their work. For me the location from where I
work is not necessarily a place of influence. It can be of course, but at times it
need not be. The idea explored in the work is what casts the influence or
direction.
4-
Describe your creative process; what are you currently inspired by?
What are you currently working on?
My recent work is an animation
titled The Last Post and a related video titled
Gossamer. It was inspired by my
ongoing interest in the colonial history of the
sub-continent as well as by an
opportunity to collaborate with the musician and
composer, DuYun, who is also a
performance artist.
Nazy Nazhand is the founder of Art Middle East, a series of programs and
cultural events during Armory Arts
Week in New York City and Art Platfom – Los
Angeles. She’s a contributing
writer covering art from the Middle East. She has
written for Artnet, Modern Painters, Artinfo,
Whitewall, and T Magazine.
5- Fereshteh Daftari
With hindsight do you consider your
choice of this tradition as complying with any larger political agenda?
Shahzia Sikander
At a fairly young age, my decisions and
judgments were mostly intuitive and yet
I gravitated towards those who were questioning
the status quo. The desire to be
subversive and !nd one’s voice is, I think, an
outcome of a coming of age in the
unstable and oppressive political climate of
Zia ul-Haq’s military regime.
6- Who is pursuing who and when does
the pursuer become pursued?
Since arriving in America from Pakistan in
1993, there have been many
stops in different cities and many absences
also. I have worked outside of the
US recently, in Berlin and Laos, and even back
in Pakistan. Art remains a way of
observing the world and bringing into effect a
process that creates meaning for me.
I am interested in recorded histories and their
paths of evolution in terms of what
gets culled and elaborated. What is usually
left out is the space imagination !lls
in. Drawing upon literature, political and
national histories, art history, media and
language, and lived experience, I !nd shifting
geographical locations compelling.
The indisputable concept of plural identity
versus the assertion of a monolithic one,
the fear of the other, politicised ideas of
patriotism, constantly evolving truths and all
the bizarre shifts between reality and
perception are but some of the elements that
provide paradox, humour, irony and material for
me. I am just as interested in these
notions now as I was in 1985 when I !rst
started making work.
7-
How do you define your relationship to miniature painting?
Shahzia Sikander
My relationship is akin to contradiction
itself. Conceptually, metaphorically, as well as
in terms of process, it is as much about
accumulation as removal. The anchor for all
my work is drawing. It goes hand in hand with erasing.
Layers are built and abraded;
paths are kept, their history etched in the
work itself.
8-
Fereshteh Daftari
Stereotypes are stubborn and
understanding can become entrenched; for instance, Expressionist painting
simplistically associated with angst, miniature painting with beauty. How would
you de!ne beauty and to what extent do you allow it to enter your work?
Shahzia Sikander
Beauty is as subjective as the notion of art
itself. Beauty and its subsequent context
go in and out of fashion every decade it seems.
I was interested in violating the
preciousness of the miniature as an equivalent
to what might be considered an antiheroic
gesture. At the same time I was interested in
process, labour, time, traditional
skills, virtuosity of technique and formalism.
Despite my investment in understanding
and studying miniature painting, I was equally
irreverent towards its traditions, mixing
them in many unorthodox ways. If we were to
equate ‘beauty’ with ‘authenticity’, then a
subversive attitude, one that is open to
contamination, would most accurately de!ne
my relationship to it.
9- Fereshteh Daftari
Can you give some examples of
unorthodox processes you have applied to
miniature painting?
Shahzia Sikander
Miniature painting has been ripe for
deconstruction. Tradition is altered through
many strategies, a change of scale for instance
or when I paint a mural; a change
of medium or abstracted forms from miniatures
animated through video projection.
Animation is a whole new territory for ideas
that used to reside on paper. Another
way to disrupt tradition is through the
transformation of a single motif. A turban
in Pursuit Curve (2004) for example, may be a
traditional form but through the
device of multiplication, it releases new
associations.
10
Fereshteh Daftari
Can you discuss some visual artists
whose works have touched you?
Shahzia Sikander
Many artists have resonated with me at
different times. Regarding ideas of capturing
loss, I admire Anselm Kiefer, Sigmar Polke and
William Kentridge. Others, such as
Cornelia Parker and James Turrell, even though
very different from each other,
have struck me for the way their intervention
impacts or transforms space in much
unexpected ways. The clarity of Ed Ruscha’s and
the "uidity of Raymond Pettibon’s
drawings are other qualities I !nd relevant.
Pettibon excels in tackling pop culture
with as much ease as he accesses his own
subconscious. Bhupen Khakar and
David Hockney are two artists who were helpful
for me when I began looking at the
depiction of space in Persian Safavid painting.
They opened up the exploration of
space from a personal, psychological
standpoint. Francis Alÿs’ use of repetition as a
strategy is also of interest – how every
repeated action, gesture or re-enactment in
his work yields multiple readings.
