Flashback By M.I.Mazhar

Written By M.I.Mazhar

I saw fresh corn husks at the vegetable shop and stopped.

A well familiar scene appeared in the wilderness of the mind and made me blossom for a while.

In my homeland, thousands of miles away, the days before the corn harvest are near.

Blinks in my eyes a never-fading image of when the husks were still half-raw and half-ripe.

How did mother’s hand rest on the one that was the juiciest among them?

How did she know which one was as bright as the milk-white teeth of her son?

Which one was as soft as the soft pink face of her daughter?

She would only half peel the one then let us feel the joy of peeling the rest.

In the unfolding of life, every Pahari mother was a symbol of resilience and courage just like a mountain.

Yet, she would touch a corn plant with the gentlest hand.

Not just to fulfill the innocent request of a little one.

But to care for and protect the corn which was not yet ready to harvest.

Her fingers would mechanically collide with the one that met the criteria.

A question arises in the mind.

May it be seen in my native place even today?

The heart cries to witness, the visit to the homeland last year belies any such image.

Let my homeland live in my dreams.

An Artist’s profile and work

Balal Aquil /

My practice reflects my own sense of dislocation, of not belonging to any one particular culture but instead belonging to many cultures. I explore my Pakistani-Kashmiri heritage and British nationality through images with open narratives, currently, by creating paintings of hybrid wildcats and utopian landscapes. I interweave aspects of my autobiography, fantasy and visions of the future with memories and my longing for loved ones and the lost ancestral homelands of Lahore and Kashmir.

The lines in my paintings reflect my interest in Persian-Mughal miniatures and comics. I reconnect with my heritage through the use of vibrant colours and the act of painting. I use linen as a painting surface because of its aesthetic similarity to the fabric used in Kashmiri shawls.

I begin by making small sketches, paintings and collages from personal photographs. Acting as compositional studies, these are then projected onto the canvas.

 

I proceed by applying multiple layers of thick impasto brush strokes to provide a rich texture, similar to that of a Persian carpet. I mix my paints like I’m cooking biryani, so to create a unique mixture of cultures and influences, of its own standing. As the painting evolves, I change parts of the work intuitively until it has reached a natural sense of completion.