The visual artist Nazia Ejaz is now again based in Karachi but, even though she lived in Australia for several years, she has always drawn her artistic inspiration from the rich cultural tapestry and vibrant populace of her home country.

For instance, in response to the tragic Lahore bombings of 2013 that struck a food street, she translated her emotions and reflections into evocative themes centred on rickshaws and labyrinths of architectural structures of Lahore, her city of birth. That show was held in 2014, and it was the first time she was exhibiting at Canvas Gallery, and the exhibition marked the inception of her longstanding collaboration with the gallery.

In order to understand her latest exhibition ‘Ghosts of Place’, which was recently on display at Canvas Gallery, it is important to take a cursory look at Ejaz’s creative journey, which has delved into a myriad of motifs, grids and grills, exploring the realms of both the physical and the metaphysical.

In 2017, ‘The Green Room’ exhibition by Ejaz featured a captivating blend of artworks that encompassed laser-cut mirror acrylic pieces alongside oil and gold-leaf creations on linen. This collection probed the intricate themes of identity and migration, with a particular focus on her personal heritage.

In a recent exhibition, Nazia Ejaz continues her longstanding engagement with Pakistan’s cultural fabric as well as her personal visual lexicon

In 2019, Ejaz’s art show ‘Love Letters’ paid a heartfelt and deeply emotional tribute to her celebrated mother, Madam Noor Jehan — a cherished icon. A couple of years later in 2021, Ejaz’s exhibition ‘Scriptures of Love’ provided an introspective exploration of the profound impact of the pandemic on people’s lives.

While perusing the compelling artworks featured in her latest exhibition — particularly the grid-style canvases titled If on a Winter’s Night a Traveller, executed in oil and acrylic — my thoughts turned to Ejaz’s 2021 painting, A Million Farewells. This poignant piece was created in the same year that marked the passing of her father, the actor Ejaz Durrani. A Million Farewells was comprised of approximately 80 small panels, each adorned with a single or multiple roses, rendered in oil and embellished with gold-leaf, reflecting a profound and emotional tribute.

The grid, often revered by graphic designers as an essential organising tool, has also held a significant place in the repertoire of many seminal visual artists throughout the past century. While Ejaz employs a distinctive style and vocabulary, the works in the current show, structured within a grid format, evoke thoughts of the acclaimed German duo Bernd and Hilla Becher. For four decades, the Bechers captured the vanishing industrial architecture of Europe and North America through photography, arranging them in grids.

Within the various canvases of If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler, one can discover a mesmerising assembly of 40 to 60 hand-painted, minimalist full-length portraits. These portraits explore individual identities, weaving a complex tapestry that interlaces elements of history, personal narratives, cultural influences and literary references, creating a captivating realm inhabited by both tangible and ephemeral presences.

It is remarkable that within these abstract compositions, rendered with economy of strokes, one can discern an array of iconic figures. Among them, luminaries such as the enigmatic Japanese contemporary artist Yayoi Kusama, the eternal style and cinematic allure of Audrey Hepburn, the audacious statement of Banksy’s ‘Girl with Balloon’ — a piece that famously embarked on a self-destructive journey, only to command a staggering $25 million at a Sotheby’s auction.

Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, celebrated for her poignant self-portraits that bear the marks of both pain and passion, is another unmistakable presence. The unparalleled Urdu poet Mirza Ghalib also graces these canvases, as do distinguished Pakistanis, including the artist’s own parents, Madam Noor Jehan and Ejaz.

In this gallery, you’ll also encounter the indomitable spirit of the world’s youngest Nobel laureate, Malala Yousafzai, the dapper Imran Khan, and even echoes of other renowned artworks, such as Colin David’s memorable portrayal of Zara in her striped shalwar kameez from the early 70s.

You’ll traverse the intimate world of artist Iqbal Hussain’s seated women, who inhabit Lahore’s infamous Red Light area. And amidst this mosaic, the artist herself emerges in introspective self-portraits, adding yet another layer of depth and complexity to this mesmerising tapestry of identity and artistry.

According to Ejaz, “This body of work is about stories and storytellers that give meaning to places and things within our lives — echoes of meaning or ghosts of place, that we carry around with us.”

One of the other striking pieces is an ‘architectural’ painting, presented in a grid format too, executed in oil and Indian ink on canvas. This intriguing creation bears the evocative title The Scatter Here is Too Great, and it appears that the artist is drawing a connection between the intricacies of the social landscape and her unique perception thereof.  

Ejaz’s other paintings include the triptych comprising of: Once Upon A Time, The Mirror of Beauty and Of Laughter and Forgetting, along the enigmatic Sheherzade’s Dream and Of Laughter and Forgetting II, done in oil and gold-leaf on canvas. These works emanate from a highly personal visual lexicon.

The paint, with its delicate translucence and iridescent lustre, dances across the canvases like musical notations. This comes as no surprise, for her lineage is steeped in melody, with her mother known as the Melody Queen of Pakistan.

‘Ghosts of Place’ was on display at Canvas Gallery, Karachi from October 5-14, 2023

Rumana Husain is a writer, artist and educator. She is the author of two coffee-table books on Karachi, and has authored and illustrated over 60 children’s books

Published in Dawn, EOS, October 22nd, 2023