Cuadro

Zara Mahmood

Zara Mahmood’s practice involves a visual language combining symbolic and overlooked objects. In “The Dawn On Her Temples Was Stained Red,” jewelry from a bride’s dowry is constructed out of pomegranate seeds and fragments of shrapnel, transforming symbols of procreation into artifacts laced with tragedy. Created in response to the attack on a naval air force base in Karachi in May 2011, wherein one of the victims was to be married soon after the incident, the mourning bride serves as a metaphor for a grieving homeland.

Meanwhile, in the “Amnesia” series, a fractured backbone exemplifies the encumbering impact of orchestrated erasure on collective memory. This backbone is weighed down by phantom recollections that tug at and weaken national stability - visible in the state of the hangers - or is disjointed by the damaging repercussions of an inability to address recollections. This state of latency is evident in the fruitless crop that lies beneath a myriad of layers.

When values long adhered to are confronted, it is human nature to show resistance. In “The Case of Red” series, change appears aggressive, piercing the skin, and there is an instinctive urge to mend what has been adulterated. The artist fluctuates from clinging on to the sanctity of the past, to eventually welcoming a rite of passage - womanhood. As the series progresses, the pomegranate form becomes more dominant, while the red buttons signifying resistance subside and lose their brilliance.

Zara Mahmood holds a Bachelor's degree in Fine Art from the National College of Arts (NCA) in Lahore, where she specialized in Printmaking. She then received a Masters in Fine Art from the UK’s University for the Creative Arts (UCA), with a focus on Painting. The artist was a recipient of the Sheikha Manal's Young Artist Award in 2011, and her work will be exhibited at the India Art Fair in 2013. She lives and works in Dubai.