ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN YOULIN MAGAZINE
Shakil Saigol continues to craft a legacy of the strange and beautiful in his paintings inspired by heritage textiles and contemporary design. These conversational pairings have a metaphorical depth that brings together glamorous muses draped in saris set beside a personalised folklore of animalistic and figurative motifs. With a legacy of capturing the richness of colour woven into handcrafted saris, Saigol’s painterly rendering in Gouache remains seamless as it carries the weightlessness of fabric. The minimalist geometry nested between the yards of pure fabric inspire the artist who had previously explored heavy gold embroidery, complex threadwork and density of design in his work feels moved by dominating blocks of colour as reflected in the title of his latest solo exhibition titled “Dreams in an Autumnal Equinox” opened on 22nd September 2022, at Tanzara Gallery, Islamabad.
The artist shared how the work of Indian fashion designer Payal Khandwala appealed to him because of its contemporary approach to traditional saris. The West Bengal textile traditions in heirloom design have a transient language for the artist that can be seen in the delicate translucent washes of champagne gold and warm autumn hues. Shakil directly draws iconography from his life experiences, who happens to have been a passionate connoisseur collecting classical sari garments. The veil between reality and illusion can be read as the muse remains in colour, while the mangled objects accompanying her are monochromatic and rendered in graphite. The arches paper unifies the series of paintings, its soft grain holds together the contrasting terrain between the two mediums of Gouache & Graphite.
We begin with the celebration of life and a spirit of resilience as seen in the “Birdsong in Blue” Series; a woman gazes at the colourful kingfisher birds while gently holding herself upright. The scene of birds captures a moment where out of the three, two birds are listening to the song of the third while resting on a weathering leafless tree. The dead winter tree emerges out of an abstracted figure covered in Zebra skin, holding his athletic pose steady at the bottom of the composition. The entire scene holds a sense of strength that resonates deeply with the viewer. “Ravensong” series reverses the scene, by replacing the colourful kingfisher birds with ravens, the strong zebra printed figure is now sitting in the foetal position. Even though the sari-clad muse here is wearing a brighter colour, her pose is one of contemplation and confusion with her pallu falling off of her shoulder, or holding her neck with both hands in despair.
The combative nature between the presence of duality and the perseverance in finding balance are the foundations of Shakil’s symbolism. He will play with scale, perspective, position and space to create a collage of multidirectional elements that are psychological and emotive in nature. In “A Delicate Balance”, the pair of paintings reveal a muse resting on the ground loosely draped in a sari and her head lowered to face the ground in the presence of two sketched nude gymnasts both struggling to carry and holding on. There is a frenzy and mystery in the works of the artist that draws the viewer into a subconscious state, revealing the inherent familiarity of these characters and iconographies as they echo realms of fashion, athleticism and classical art.
In the pair of paintings titled “The Art of Bonsai”, the two figures are resting underneath a Bonsai tree. They are in opposite colour palettes as one is dressed in spring green and bright blue sari, whereas the other is in forlorn greys and deeper purples. An analogy for the changing seasons personified as female protagonists, while one figure looks away from the viewer the other remains alluring and confrontational. These dreamscapes are an act of personal journaling for the artist, who unapologetically carves out bewildering scenes where the morphing zebra has tree branches erupting out of its body that resemble overgrown antlers. The wild and charged scene manifests the enigma of being in a dream state in the visual foreground. In “Galloping Equus Quagga”, the Zebra is captured in absolute realism, the tree in the distance appears to be resting on top but on closer examination, there are binding tentacle-like limbs emerging from the Zebra. The figure here is silent, composed with her hands closed into fists, her expression vacant as only a side profile is visible. The sari in the painting is a deep red, coral and electric blue, neatly tied in place with a soothing stillness that brings relief to the painful scene between the tree and the Zebra.
The artist conjures narratives through his unique assembly of symbolisms. There is a journey that is created within each painting that allows the viewer to reflect on their inner state of being. Shakil’s body of work carries a release of emotions for the viewer as he invites them into the experience of a surreal escape that he meticulously weaves into his paintings.
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