January 24, 2009

VM Gallery, Karachi’s current show ‘Threads in play’, uniquely positioned between contemporary aesthetics and textile traditions, is best enjoyed as a harbinger of new mergers. In an effort to fuse the functional with the conceptual, Indus Valley School’s textile design graduates, Francine Angele Chen and Mehak Khalid have tried to extend the scope of their discipline beyond the obvious.

Exploring line, colour, pattern, texture, form, and space through innovative combinations of media, materials, techniques and processes, they have attempted to combine the essentials of textile craft and design with the fundamentals of fine arts.

Making lavish use of rich gold embroidery, artist Mehak Ali has opted for fabric art that supposedly doubles as draped garment and ornamental wall hanging. Using the ubiquitous shawl as canvas, she has resorted to a reinterpretation of Baroque architectural design as a decorative fabric pattern. Three-dimensional stucco patterns of Baroque architecture reappear as embellished motifs on yards of silk fabric and damask simulations.

The intricate stitchcraft, similar to the ornate gold needlework used for embroidering traditional wedding finery in Pakistan, is executed by skilled artisans employed and supervised by the artist.

A studio artist and craft artisan interactive exercise this body of work can be located between an apparel designer work ethos and a fine artist sensibility. As a fashion and art fusion it departs from the conventional runway design or painting display. But as an art gallery display the exhibition has tried to access both the average art viewer and commercial consumer. Other than this the work process addresses the prevalent class and occupational divide. Communication between the illiterate craftsperson and the qualified designer is a healthy development for both artist and artisan as it encourages craft/art mergers.

Textile art has generally not been afforded attention on par with painting or sculpture, or even other media within the broad category of design. The general perception is that applied arts are considered inferior to ‘high arts’. Such is reflected in the divergent vocabularies one uses to assess painting and sculpture on the one hand, and design on the other. For the former, the terminology and arguments of canonical and contemporary aestheticians are employed to justify value judgments, whereas for design, novelty is the overwhelming consideration.

The second artist in the show, Chen, has highlighted the woven material and motif as an art form. Concentrating on a sleeker version of the shawl, the stole, she has manipulated cotton fibre into complex designer weaves. Her artist statement claims that she is inspired by the Inca weavers of Cuzo, Peru and her intricate handiwork restricts commercialisation and mass production.

Each handmade stole is exclusive and references elements of nature like rain, sunshine, midnight in effect or essence. Essentially a combination of designer and weaving skills the stoles are best appreciated as attractive art pieces that can be hung or draped on walls or stands. Unlike Mehak’s workable designs, the subtleties of Chen’s techniques are not easily understood by the local weavers and are limited to the artist’s personal skills only.

The embroidered or woven form as an aesthetic expression is by no means a new phenomena. As early as the 1920’s, American artist Annie Albers was grappling with the construction challenges of weaving as a student at Bauhaus. Her show in 1949, the first of its kind for a textile artist at the Museum of Modern Art, USA, established Albers as the most well-known weaver of the day. Her woven works include many wall hangings, curtains and bedspreads, mounted ‘pictorial’ images, and mass-produced yard material. Her weavings are often constructed of both traditional and industrial materials to startlingly sublime effect.

Presently the use of textiles in contemporary fine art is widespread but it has perhaps been the high profile of Tracy Emin that has drawn the public’s attention to their potential and adaptability. Here in our milieu there is a very rich textile heritage reservoir that can be tapped to immense advantage. While fashion designers are attempting effective reinventions very few artists are exploring the potential of our local folk and tribal patterns as an art form. The unlettered craftsperson dedicated to the continuation of traditional formats is still a breed apart.

The positive aspect of the current VM exhibition of textile art is the inclusion of craft and craftsperson. Such aesthetic mergers extend the potential of our textile arts but we need intelligent innovation and maturity in concept and workmanship to create the necessary shift up the ladder. The current show is merely a move in the required direction. The two artists have potential but they need to resolve issues related to the status and quality of their products.

In Khalid’s work not enough emphasis is placed on composition of concept, selection, size and placement of motif and overall finishing and to elevate the product to an art object. Her Victorian gowns seem dated and dowdy. Stoles by Chen are not entirely functional either — too limp, lightweight or full of ruches to qualify as wall décor or hangings, they were also too delicate to qualify as practical apparel wear. Hopefully the artists will concentrate on a more defined fusion and continue to further refine and improve their oeuvre.

 

Right & above: Mehak Khalid
Facing page: Francine Angele Chen