Written by: Khadijah Rehman
Posted on: July 18, 2019 | 
(L) No Cherries For Me Please, (C) The Trespasser, (R) The Other Ones II
"I think of all the things that have been written about me - that I am a good girl with a pliable nature and no harm is told of me, that I am cunning and devious, that I am soft in the head and little better than an idiot. And I wonder, how can I be all of these different things at once?” - Margaret Atwood.
Femininity is a convoluted art to master. Under the misogynistic glare of society, a woman is perfected when she is an ornament, decorated in color and quietness, an emblem of gentle beauty. This is a notion that visual artist Hoor Imad Sherpao uses as bait at her show For Your Eyes Only at the O Art Space Gallery this week. Among decorative figures and intricate ornate frames, the secret of womanhood unspools right under the viewer's nose.
A miniature painter, Sherpao has created figurative paintings of women in gouache on wasli. Lone female figures with delicate, stylised features are placed as icons of importance amidst decorative environments and backgrounds, their eyes glimmering with defiance. The decorative, embellished quality of the works is further thrown into emphasis by the generous use of gold, be it within the compositions as bits of jewelry, or little brass icons adorning ornate sheesham and wooden frames.
In Arch Rivals, two women stand within two black arches against a blue sky inspired by traditional miniature, small white clouds unfurling overhead. The women are perhaps two versions of the same self, both faces heavily made up, both figures draped in loose orange garments that flow and curl around their bodies. There is no arm or hand in sight, which might be a way to render these women powerless, and yet a gold halo is placed behind each head, while little star and sun symbols in brass adorn the red frame around the painting. The work evokes a feeling of reverence and awe, the women reminiscent of icons at an altar in religious paintings, and yet there is a pervading sense of bewitchment and scorn in the dourness of their visages.
Queen of Hearts, too, regales with a similar tale. Gold dangles from the ears of the beautified woman and wraps itself around her neck, while her eyebrows arch in proud disdain. Contained within a jumble of colour and shape, gilded red hearts and floral icons surround her. The intricacies of this work are a challenge to navigate, the eye clambers from symbol to symbol, never settling. Nestled among this surfeit of visual luxury, the woman looks at the viewer, glorified and untouchable.
In A Trip To The Enemies a young girl is adorned in gold and jewels, her hair held high in two naive ponytails. A cornucopia of illustrative flora forms the background, stylised leaves and buds sprouting from vibrant bushes and shrubs. A gold halo is placed behind her head like the sun, a small pond at her feet. The flatness of the composition is inspired by classic miniature, and the girl embellished in gold could be a child bride departing a childhood home, an armless deity seeking worship, or a powerful temptress causing life to bloom at mere glance. There is no end to the versions of herself that one woman can be, and in Sherpao's deceptively exquisite depictions of womanhood, the audience sees what it wants to.
Using an onslaught of beauty to lure the viewer in, the artist has perfected the woman, not in her docility or silent loveliness but in her agency to appear to be whatever she desires. The exhibition continues till the 22nd July.
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