One woman is reclining on a chair, another is outdoors on a swing, one in a red dress is sipping tea, while yet another is pausing to smell a flower in the garden. All are long-limbed and dressed in bright shades, and can be seen going about their daily activities, playing with children, sharing secrets with friends...
“Women are the central theme in all my paintings,’’ says Karachi-based artist Shazly Khan. Acclaimed as one of the most exciting young artists from Pakistan, she is currently exhibiting her work at Dubai’s NM Art Gallery on Jumeriah Beach Road.
Entitled ‘I Dream, I Can and I Will’ the exhibition includes 25 of her paintings, all acrylic on canvas, and depict the amazingly myriad world of women.
Shazly could not be presenting her work at a better time, this being the pink month where the focus is on women. “I celebrate womanhood; women are the nurturers who keep the family together and their role in the family and society cannot be overestimated,” says Shazly.
“They have special bonds with the family, dreams, wants and desires... They have a caring nature, love peace and harmony... I attempt to portray all or at least some of that in my work.’’
But Shazly is doing more than that. She is donating a painting from her current exhibition to a Breast Cancer charity in Dubai.
“Breast cancer has claimed the lives of some of my close friends and the pain of their loss still resonates within me,’’ she says.
“I’ve been privy to the emotional trauma they experienced after they were diagnosed with the condition, the physical pain they experienced when undergoing treatment, the pain their children experienced when they lost their mothers... it can be truly devastating.
“I feel strongly for women who are victims of such a disease because it can affect them and their families deeply. Children lose their mothers, husbands lose their wives. I hope the charity that gets my painting can auction it and raise funds for this cause, which can benefit at least some women,” says Shazly, 35.
Women take centre stage
Portraying women in their many hues is something that is very close to Shazly’s heart.
“Like Mother Earth, every woman has the gift of life within her. For me women and children acquire a special place and I feel in Asia women do not really get a proper opportunity to celebrate their womanhood in the true spirit. It is those women I try to portray in my work. I have been through girlhood, and am a mother of three kids so I guess I understand the ethos of a woman’s world very well,” says Shazly, who has been painting for the past 11 years.
Shazly takes time out to give back to the community. She holds free workshops for women in several parts of Pakistan, and has over the past decade also held several art classes for street children and special needs children. She has also conducted art workshops to help raise funds for blood cancer patients in Karachi.
“Art is very liberating and I found a rare spontaneity, enthusiasm and creativity when I conduct workshops for street kids,’’ says Shazly. “Some of them are hugely talented and have created amazingly beautiful pieces of art.”
Shazly is inspired by motifs of everyday life, factors she says lend her work an element of “tasteful, sweet domesticity’’.
“The focus of my work is human forms and their relationships. I use and depict everyday occurrences alongside major life events and subconscious desires, while concentrating on particular design elements. The audience may be able to identify with certain images and can interpret them in whichever way they like, or they relate to.
“I consider my art to be an extension of myself and an expression of who I am in the world: it’s a genuine way to express my thoughts and feelings, and share my world with others. The images that I depict are an extension and a free expression of my personal artistic style, and they are formed and manipulated into ways I find aesthetically compelling.’’
Shezly’s work is highly symbolic and laden with colour and emotion. “I think it’s because I look at my paintings as a manner of expression of my deep love for life and family, and a manifestation of my wish to protect it and create an inner sense of peace and happiness.’’
Inspiring, eclectic influences
Shazly was born in Saudi Arabia where her father, a town planner, was working. She feels fortunate to have visited several countries in Europe and North Africa. “I spent my childhood until sixth grade in Algeria and have many happy memories of the place,’’ she says.
It was at school in Algeria that she first learnt to sketch. “My teachers taught us art to explore and experiment with our feelings. By the sixth grade I had a book where I used to sketch whatever came to my mind.”
In the next few years she experienced several countries and cultures as her family travelled across Spain, France and Italy, following her father’s various postings before returning to Pakistan, where she completed her secondary education at the American School before graduating in fine arts.
“All the places I have been to – such as Rome, France and Spain – have a very vibrant art scene. They still inspire me and elements occasionally creep into my paintings now.
“I was also exposed to African tribal art which has very bold strokes and vibrant colours. In Pakistan, even street art is so vibrant. All these influences inspired my style.”
Shazly uses powerful motifs such as the sun and the dove to portray optimism, positivity and peace.
“The elongated limbs of women, typical in all my works, symbolise the woman who is reaching out to achieve her full potential in the various stages of life,’’ says Shazly, who held her first solo exhibition in 2002 in Karachi at the Indus Art Gallery.
“Symbols are important in my work and I often bring them into play, be it universal symbols. For instance, in my painting entitled Pigeons and Birds, I included several birds as a symbol of man’s desire to attain and create peace, universal harmony. In this I also wanted to portray humanity’s craving for freedom.
“Another work of mine titled Plant of Fertility stands for more than a fertile woman who bears children into the world; it is also a metaphor for fertile minds that are indispensable for a healthy society.
“To me symbols such as the sun signify glory, hope, ambition and a bright future; fish represent life and the beauty as well as the chaos of living; buildings denote the fast-track urban life with which we are closely associated, while a chair is about attaining a noticeable place for oneself in our society.’’
One of her favourites is a work titled My Cup of Tea. “It is my companion and a friend in my best and worst of times; I’m addicted to it!’’
Shazly finds texture and design equally important as colours. “I use fast-drying acrylics, which I apply with a brush, a palette knife sometimes even with my fingers as I love the feel of paint,” she says.
The artist believes she represents the voice of the women in her region through her art. “My art is a tribute to all the women of Asia and also represents the craving for inner peace, equality with men, love and fulfilment.”
