Zarina Hashmi (b. 1937)

Acquired from a private collector, New Delhi, March 2010

Zarina Hashmi, Silent Soliloquy, Bodhi Art, Pragati Offset, Hyderabad, 2006, unpaginated

Buckling at all quadrants. Light wear to edges and corners of both papers including minor creases and tears left edge, bottom. Vertical discoloration to paper at center, along the line where the two papers meet, as seen in the catalog illustration. Very light, spotted areas of discoloration to paper at left side. Frame: Wear to corners. Small nick at upper right edge.
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 Zarina Hashmi is known for her astute use of minimalism to represent the complexity of her main artistic concerns - displacement and belonging. A wide range of her practice is based upon these themes. While incorporating the traditional mapping of space, Hashmi also maps various moments in time. Her family’s upheaval during the Indian partition raised new questions about her associations with numerous places and the meaning of the word ‘home’.

Hashmi's body of work uses lines not only to demarcate boundaries but also to mark routes and passages. These lines demonstrate both the strength and fragility of division. Adopting Zen philosophy in her aesthetic, Hashmi's spatial compositions have a transitional and liminal quality, imparting the viewer with a sense of meditative spirituality.

Throughout her artistic career, Hashmi has shown versatility with a wide range of mediums. Primarily a sculptor and printmaker she also uses silk screen and blind embossing, as evidenced by these two lots. Her unique and carefully considered approach has gained her international recognition and she was honored with a retrospective at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York and The Art Institute of Chicago in 2013.