statement
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Asad Hayee
South Asia has strong cultural history and people of the region have played a major role in constructing a strong social bond with in a society. Where social values are preferred and practiced like religious rituals. Sub continent has strong political history and has seen a long era of colonial rule. This has left a strong impact on the people of the region. The society which emerged after the independence of 1947 has gone through several political changes including zia’s regime to other democratic governments.
Being an artist I am trying to challenge the gender discriminations in my society and I have tried to question the existing norms and values of society. The very first hand experience of a child about his society or surrounding is always the elders or the dictation given to him about the rules of the society. In this male dominating culture, man goes through a lot of pressures so, he has to be courageous and has to be strong enough to control his emotions. His role is considered like an icon and it is very common to hear that he should not moan or cry like girls or girls are born to moan and are considered to be inferior to men. In this “so called” male dominating society the women have been performing a dominant role in the lives of the men as mother, sisters or wives. Where they have tried to control the every aspect of the men in their lives, either father, brother or husband.
In my work I have tried to explore and experiment with different mediums. I have worked from metaphors to juxtapose my thoughts as visuals. I have used the images of “The Tie” from my nostalgic child hood memory of school uniform and as a masculine symbol to narrate my visuals. “Tie” has been an essential part of the dress code for a gentleman (the dress code from colonial times). This, later on became a part of every educational institute’s uniform and it created diverse contradictions and complexes in the society. I have tried to develop a language from drawings to my paintings of different school uniform’s ties. Where each image of the “tie’s” representing the personality of a child and his emotions. This work later developed into direct depiction of the male body.
The human body has always inspired the artist around the world. They have used the both male and female form in their paintings to question the norms of their society. In my society though the male figure is not been exposed much as compared to the female form.
