Artist Shad Fatima’s exhibition at this Bandra gallery showcases her artistic journey

Untitled ceramic sculpture

The pleasure of following keyhole views and gaining insight into an artist's experiences significantly captured in their work cannot match the story compounded by their oeuvre. Bhopal-based artist Shad Fatima offers a look into her ongoing artistic and personal journey - in her case the two cannot be separated - at her ongoing exhibition. Dasht-Gard - Urdu or Hindi for wanderer, lover or madman - opened at the start of this month at Ayesha Parikh's Art and Charlie.

Exhibition view of the gallery

To our delight, Fatima begins this tale from the top, when she began her art career in 2008. "I did not think I would be an artist. I started with a natural expression of my situation and didn't know what I was doing was creating art," she reveals. The language this expression embodied was in the abstract form, first with colour and slowly transitioning to black and white which offered a clear view of grayscale layers helping her arrange her thoughts. More than an expression it was a force that had to be released, she explains. This practice has cemented her approach to the canvas; the current exhibition is charged with honesty and lived experiences. No sober editing here. The wonderful thing about this method is that every work is relatable to the viewer.

Shad Fatima. PICS COURTESY/ART AND CHARLIE

During her residency at Kanoria Center for Arts Ahmedabad in 2012, the architecture of a new place seeped into her abstract forms bringing a revelation that big brush strokes and thin lines can reflect comprehensible life. This, along with meeting new people, gave way to portraits where the subjects captured were her own and others' perceived expressions and emotions; leading to an ongoing creation of a bank of human emotions, filtered through the artist. For us, the portraits that have their eyes closed or half opened mirror us the most after Fatima confirms the direction of our thoughts. She shares, "It is a personal feeling but you need to close your eyes to escape your surroundings and tap into your inner peace."

The exhibition also features ceramics, a form that Fatima has been exploring. "Different mediums give us the possibility to take our work ahead," she says while explaining how and where her experiences found their physical expressions. In this manner, Dasht-Gard was born - a curation of two bodies of work by gallerist Parikh, a set of portraiture in ceramics, canvas and paper, and abstracted landscapes. They come together to draw characters and experiences that defy societal constructs and unite our essence as wanderers, seeking, searching and living. And thus, the artist's journey, in the end, is our own.

Till: August 5; 11 am to 8 pm (Tuesday to Sunday)
At: Art and Charlie, 71A Pali Village, Bandra West.
Log on to: artandcharlie.com