The works of Sumaira Tazeen are a visual soliloquy of her life, lived experiences and observations of the society she lives in, delivered in a garb of symbols and metaphors. Trained in the traditional South Asian art form of miniature, the artist borrows imagery from old miniature paintings from the Mughal court to talk about the endurance of despotic traditions, norms and practices, and the timelessness of patriarchal structures, oppressive values, and skewed power dynamics.

Growing up in the 70s and 80s Pakistan, the artist responds to the suffocating and restrictive atmosphere of the military dictatorship of the Zia regime, using her voice to expose the everyday struggles of women in a society unfairly bent against them. Throughout her practice, Tazeen has been highlighting the more subtle, covert, micro-sexism of society, normalized through rituals and traditions such as dowry. During most of this time her work naturally gravitated towards a more abstractive symbolism, using simplified geometric form to convey complex concepts. These later became coupled with objects in miniature sculptures for a more direct conversation about the repressive traditions surrounding marriage in South Asian culture.

More recently, Tazeen’s work has developed a preference for representational imagery inspired from traditional miniature paintings through the technique of monochrome photo-transfers on fields of flat color. Royal couples in embrace, Mughal kings, birds, animals and flowers come together to create metaphorical narratives that bridge time and space, cultures and geographies, fantasy and reality, revealing truths and dispelling myths about love, lust, abuse, control, and trauma, as well as strength, resilience and hope for the future. This duality is woven through every visual mechanism in the artist’s work, making it a complex depiction of the multiplicity of life.

Much like the rest of her practice, these themes emerge from the artist’s personal experience with an emotionally abusive marriage and a narcissistic partner, her immigration across the globe to Canada, and the slow, painful process of freeing herself from the bonds of trauma. In the aftermath of her own experience, the artist became involved with domestic abuse centers for women, working with victims and listening to their heart-wrenching stories of abuse, trauma, and sexual assault—stories that transcended race, ethnicity, and nationality. The current body of work culminates from these conversations, allowing for an intersectional understanding of the female experience while at the same time untethering these grave issues from race and underscoring their universality.

The veil of metaphor allows the artist to deal with such harrowing themes sensitively, while also allowing for an understanding of its complexities. The flora, fauna and colored landscapes extend the symbol of the Chahar Bagh in Islam from which the adorned borders of Mughal miniature are inspired, as well as the “Sabz Bagh” narrative the artist has been working with for the past couple decades. “sabz bagh daikhna/dikhana” is the Urdu version of the English proverb “the grass is greener on the other side”. In these works, coupled with images of princes and princesses, they evoke a cynical view of romantic love. The artist herself turned her attentions towards love and marriage late in life, sacrificing an independent lifestyle that she had built and become accustomed to, for the sake of the pursuit for companionship – which did not work out for her as she had hoped. Her migration to Canada thereafter further adds another reading to the notion of sabz bagh.

In the work Ruptured Whispers we see the image of a Mughal prince and princess in romantic embrace, with wilted flowers in the foreground and the sinister figure of an owl perched in the background as birds hover in the skies above, perhaps a hint towards the act of migration, or perhaps as scavengers and birds of prey. These images from art history found in old Mughal miniature albums are unburdened from historical context, yet they bridge past and present and unveil the timelessness of the themes being discussed.

Similar imagery is seen in Let’s Meet By The Flowers II, where the blue from the Iris next to the princess is reflected in her prince, perhaps a symbol of faith and hope which she sees in him, yet he is accompanies by the royal, proud peacock, revealing his true nature. In The Lover’s Gaze IV the couple’s romantic gesture is mimicked by the birds, perhaps suggesting a clash of matching wits, or pride and stubbornness on both sides, leading to a breakdown of a relationship.

The use of birds and other animals extend beyond these works, acting as both negative and positive symbols, imbued with the same complexity as the ideas they represent. In The Dark Night a dog appears alongside a portrait of Shah Jehan, drawing comparisons and creating a profile of a narcissist who sees himself as all powerful, the center of the universe, commanding blind obedience, loyalty and service from others.

A pack of Hyenas appears in a series of three works, where the dog-like predator is seen circling an invisible prey in a cacophony of limbs and bared teeth. This ruthless, cunning and opportunistic animal lusts for a glittering pastry, a metaphor that works on multiple levels but is starkly reminiscent of sexual harassment, objectification, abuse and assault experienced by countless women from all walks of life.

The Chukar Partridge, or Chakor as it is known locally, is a South Asian native bird known for its mythical unrequited love for the moon, representing loyalty and enduring love and companionship. Placed next to the sinister owl it gives this romantic fantasy a dark twist, mirroring the dynamics of a toxic relationship.

The Black Crown Night Heron makes multiple appearances as a main character in this series of works. It is a species native to both South Asia and Canada, as a well as a symbol for patience, wisdom, transition and transformation, making it an apt metaphor on multiple levels for the artist’s physical journey across the pond – and the connection she maintains with her former home as it acts as an amalgam of both worlds – as well as her emotional journey of strength, courage and healing from past traumas.

The monochrome images rest on fields of deep reds and magentas, warm oranges and yellows, and cool royal and cerulean blues and sea greens, the work is tied together by a starkly contrasted color palette. The gold gilding gives a sense of luster, richness, passion and courage. At once there is a sense of danger and high emotional charge, lust and seduction, along with stoic resolve and resilience, and a hope for better days to come. Much like the imagery it nestles, there is a dichotomy in the landscape.

These themes become more nuanced in her two-channel video work (Dis)Entangle where she simultaneously stitches and unravels the gota of a dupatta from her dowry. It talks about the subtle and complex anatomy of abuse and the ways in which mechanisms of power and control are intricately constructed and permeate every aspect of one’s being. To then disentangle oneself from this web of emotional manipulation becomes that much more complicated, to not only untether your life from another’s, but to also unlearn and relearn, to piece together your broken self-worth, and excavate and release your own self from the clutches of another’s opinion of you.

The inherent duality in the works of Tazeen allow for multiple readings, and while a somber mood lingers throughout most of her works, she leaves us with smidgens of hope for the future. In the end one is left questioning where fantasy ends and reality begins, and whether or not we see a happy ending will depend on where we are coming from.

‘Unraveling the Muffle’, a solo exhibition of Sumaira Tazeen was displayed at Canvas Gallery, Karachi, from 17th December till 27th December 2024.

All images are courtesy, and copyright, of the Canvas Gallery & the artist.

Title Image: Shattered Cravings II, Opaque water-based pigment, graphite, genuine gold leaf and photo transfer on watercolour paper, 14×20 inches, 2024