Shahzia Sikander was
born in 1969 in Lahore, Pakistan. Educated as an undergraduate
at the
National College of Arts in Lahore, she received her MFA in 1995
from the Rhode Island School of Design. Sikander specializes in
Indian and Persian miniature painting, a traditional style that
is both highly
stylized
and disciplined. While becoming an expert in this technique-driven,
often impersonal art form, she imbued it with a personal context
and history, blending the Eastern focus on precision and methodology
with a Western emphasis on creative, subjective expression. In
doing
so, Sikander transported miniature painting into the realm of
contemporary
art. Reared as a Muslim, Sikander is also interested in exploring
both sides of the Hindu and Muslim “border,” often combining
imagery from both—such as the Muslim veil and the Hindu multi-armed
goddess—in a single painting. Sikander has written: “Such
juxtaposing
and mixing of Hindu and Muslim
iconography
is a parallel to the entanglement of histories of India and Pakistan.”
Expanding the miniature to the wall, Sikander also creates murals
and
installations,
using tissue paperlike materials that allow for a more free-flowing
style. In what she labeled
performances,
Sikander experimented with wearing a veil in public, something she
never did before moving to the United States. Utilizing performance
and various media and formats to investigate issues of border crossing,
she seeks to subvert
stereotypes
of the East and, in particular, the Eastern Pakistani woman. Sikander
has received many awards and honors for her work, including the
honorary artist award from the Pakistan Ministry of Culture and
National Council of the Arts. Sikander resides in New York and
Texas.
For additional biographic & bibliographic information:
Sikkema Jenkins & Co., New York
Shahzia Sikander on the Art21 blog |
