The painting style and technique is a discourse primarily between wood ashes, desert sand, brick dust powder, gum arabic, graphite, dry pigments, gold and copper alloys on a wasli, stretched on fiber reinforced concrete and compressed wood. Other, elements, such as silicon carbide powders, gesso, “sorash,” limestones, rabbit skin glue, gypsum, and sawdust are also used time and again under various compressions of media aesthetics and strength.

These many of which are, unorthodox materials, through a process of new archival methods, when applied onto the wasli paper, tries to keep intact the pre-requisites of the logical integrity and spirituality of the Indo-Persian traditional style of paintings. This is an important step for me as an artist, who is many times only using these materials and various techniques to meditate, understand and reach towards the Sublime.

Parts of the image are treated sensitively with the traditional technique of miniature painting called “pardakht” (a soft grainy textured style of painting with a squirrel-tail brush,) and “Tapaei” (larger strokes of colour applied in various tones and gradients onto the surface.)

Paintings on a large scale, tries to breaks the stereotypical idea of Indo-Persian miniature painting being only an image and a small painting in detail and rather to also be seen as a unique technique that in the past Mughal and Persian court painters used with pigments made out of sometimes real jewels of garnets, pearls and emeralds as well. The procedure and the technique remain the same. It is an innovation of the traditional practice, to keep it going on and exploring all possibilities with such a rich heritage of the sub-continent. The intricacy and the detail do not compromise on a large scale but rather it becomes a delicate balance of sensitivity and spontaneity, all at the same time.

The technique of layering, with superimposition and repetition, is used in a way, where the paintings become more of an essence of an image. It is an exploration into the world of Islam and spirituality through art and material culture.

Sana Kazi