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Standing up to life

Feb 23, 2010 | Richa Gupta | Delhi Newsline

It was in a flick of a second that Attiya Shaukat, a young Pakistani art student, lost her balance, fell off from an eight feet tall ladder and became confined to a wheel chair. Now four years later, the accident and the ensuing loss find representation through the 26-year-old Shaukat's first solo exhibition of paintings. "My mind can't think of anything but the anguish I feel at the moment. I need to vent out my frustration through my work," she says.

Titled In a Flick of a Second, the series of her miniature paintings show the artist's damaged spine, sometimes in the form of a metal chain, at other times taking the shape of a steel column or a corrugated tree trunk in rich opaque colours. You can see the soft tissues of her vertebrae in petals strung on chains and threads, depicting the fragile human anatomy one often takes for granted. Shaukat's obsession with her physical state also comes across in her series Step by Step where she focuses on her feet, which were wounded by surgery. Bandaged, nailed, wheel chair bound - the paintings of her restless feet conjure up images of Frida Kahlo's self portraits, which often portrayed the trauma the celebrated Mexican artist went through after her accident.

While the recurring theme may leave you with a morbid fear, it's her collages on the Iraq War and the women of the red-light districts that draw immediate attention. Called Bits & Pieces, the bright paintings show you overlapped images of George Bush, chained prisoners that may bring back memories of the notorious Abu Ghraib and dancing courtesans in ornate settings. But Shaukat claims she's apolitical. "I'm not interested in the war. I've painted it because I feel I can relate to the sufferings of the Iraqis who've been injured in the attack," she confesses.

And what made her undertake the journey from Lahore to Delhi? "I came here for a medical check-up last year and was fascinated by the miniature style decorations that adorned the hospital elevator. I think traditional art is nurtured well in this country," says the artist.