artist
statement
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The act of creating art serves as contemplative process through which I attempt to show the connection of the universal spirit of all living beings. I focus and am absorbed in the meditative act of painting or mark making. Repetition of the marks or shapes represent the continuous meditation of each thing in Nature on its Creator.
The application and choice of colors is primarily instinctive. I choose intense colors to signify an inner light and its outer manifestation. I see color as light of different transparencies, playing the role of inner enlightenment expressed as outer beauty. The Arabic calligraphy is repetitive and it intertwines through the process of layering representing veils that keep us from seeing the ultimate truth, a common origin. I attempt to express an experience of being embraced by the beauty of the universal spirit through luminosity of color and light, movement through gesture, richness through layering of color, and depth through intertwining mark making. The element of geometric shapes coming through is inspired by the long tradition of geometric Islamic art that manifests beauty through balance and harmony. I chose the square as the canvas shape in my work to represent the Perfection of Allah and because the simplicity of the shape points to the humility of a human being and the annihilation of the ego.
The calligraphic mark with a sense of forever being repeated represents the infinite consciousness. The movement and the energy of the calligraphic marks show the constant state of flux of each thing. The words come from Zikr or Remembrance, in which attributes of the Creator are rhythmically repeated.
SHAFAQ AHMAD