Age of the Uncertainty: the Artist as Social Critic

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Shazia Sikander (1969)

While the bold and arresting images of the prisoners in Botero’s pictures contrast markedly with the miniature works of Pakistani artist Shazia Sikander, both artists are inspired by world politics and changing social climate.

The time-honoured discipline of miniature painting, seen as old-fashioned, was not unusual for contemporary art students to study. Sikander studied it, finding it a satisfyingly defiant practice. It was also traditionally a male domain, thus Sikander’s use of this technique challenges ancient accepted traditions and stereotypes.

Sikander’s work combines the rich old tradition of the miniature with its historic iconography and technique, and overlays t with contemporary meaning. For instance, a traditional Mughal court hunting scene, a royal garden is replaced with images from the contemporary world – the Iraq war, or elements of worldwide popular culture. The imagery in Sikander’s work explores the oppression of women, and the place of Muslim women in contemporary society, and investigates and explores the view adopted by many in the West, of linking Islam with terrorism – a recent phenomenon stemming from 9/11.

The image is of central concern in all of Sikander’s paintings, installations, and works on paper. On a religious level, her works explore the tensions that exist among Islam, Hinduism and Christianity, and the intersection of these faiths within her own personal history and sexuality. As a practicing Muslim, religion plays an important role in Sikander’s life, and id woven throughout her art practice in various manifestations.

The forms in her work are often surrealist or distorted in their initial appearance; for instance, veils of colour allude to the veil worn by Muslim. In the West, the veil is seen as a symbol of female oppression, whereas in Sikander’s work it is seen as empowering and mysterious.

F-16 fighter jets, with their slick design and symbolism are used as a motif throughout Pakistan. Sikander, too, uses the form of his fighter jet as one of the more disturbing motifs in her painting Pleasure Pillars 2001.

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