Mixed Media on wood, ready to hang.
Signed on the back.
This painting is based on an Urdu verse by the poet Allama Iqbal about a grain of sand wanting to expand, which in reality is not a grain but the whole desert contained within a single grain.
The artwork has been titled “The Need to Matter" because it relates to the grain of sand wanting to expand into a desert. This verse is close to my heart as it resonates with my thirst for knowledge, learning, spiritual growth and fulfillment.
It was selected as a finalist for the Blacktown City Art Prize 2019 and for the Australian Muslim Art Prize at the Islamic Museum of Australia.
The sides of the painting has been inscribed with Urdu handwriting meticulously written with glue and copper leaf. The center of the painting has Arabic calligraphy in the Thuluth script surrounded by concentric rings of gold leafed texture.
The Lines of poetry read:
اس ذرّے کو رہتی ہے وسعت کی ہوس ہر دم
یہ ذرّہ نہیں، شاید سِمٹا ہُوا صحرا ہے
This artwork is very impressive in person with its three different metallic colours across the piece.