"...There was no particular break from tradition, and
yet my whole purpose of taking on the subject was to break
the tradition, to experiment with it, to find new ways of
making meaning, to question the relevance of it."
"I never thought I came from a religious background,
and things I do might be considered religious. But it's
so much what you are comfortable with. For me, I've had
a lot of freedom in understanding Islam, and it gives me
strength, and it's very progressive, and I understand it
with that sense."
"I do get back into a certain notion of spirituality
where I need to be by myself, or I need to read, or I will
fast, or I will do things which make sense to me, and which
allow me to come back to that space. So the same way when
I am working large and I paint and I do murals, and the
next thing is I come back to miniature painting. It's just
this whole dichotomy of experience."
Were you interested in art as
a child? Do you have any childhood memories of knowing you
wanted to be an artist?
SIKANDER:
I think a lot of my memory is
always associated with friendships and relationships. It's
very much about people. I was very interested in portraiture.
How I started doing drawings was that I could draw somebody's
face and give that as a present to them, to maybe win their
affection... [LAUGHS] for primarily those reasons, as a child
even. And the pleasure to be able to draw somebody's portrait
to perfection, and, still most of my work deals with that.
It's like people you want to identify with, artists you want
to identify with, people who've had a significant part in
my life, they come into my work. So I was looking at an art
form which did not deal very much with the personal, and then
that was what I was interested in - how to make a personal
expression in this genre,
which was very thematic. So it really evolves around feelings
and experiences I've had in life with people.
ART:21:
Did you know you were breaking
with the tradition of miniature painting when you began working,
including personal subjects or ideas in this genre?
SIKANDER:
No, because there was no particular
way of defining the tradition either. Miniature painting,
at least at school, was offered as a place of experimentation.
So again, when you think about it as this traditional art
form, you tend to bring all this baggage that you're dealing
with, a very specific way of working. But when you are offered
miniature painting at a school, it's a place of experimentation.
Not too much and not too little - it was controlled, you weren't
free to just do whatever. You still had to work within a certain
set of rules. So there was no particular break from tradition,
and yet my whole purpose of taking on the subject was to break
the tradition, to experiment with it, to find new ways of
making meaning, to question the relevance of it. So the intention
was that.
ART:21:
Your art seems to deal with women's
roles.
SIKANDER:
I think that also has a lot to
do with my personal experience with my extended family. I
feel very lucky, very privileged to have had this experience
because my grandfather was very encouraging towards careers
for women, like my cousins, everybody, all the girls in the
family did something with their lives. They are still very
active people. And one grew up with that very much present.
So I knew that I had to do something constructive. And it
wasn't necessarily geared towards a career, making money,
or something which would be considered safe. And I know my
mom was like, "study architecture,"
primarily for those reasons because it would become functional,
whereas painting was still very shaky. But when I was making
these choices, nobody was questioning, even the choice of
coming to the U.S. was very much supported by my father and
my mother, but it was based on my finding a means of being
here. They couldn't support me to come here.
ART:21:
It's such a pleasure that you
[Sikander's mother] could be here as well for this interview.
Two women from this strong family of women. Was Islam, or
being Muslim, a major influence on the family?
MOTHER:
Well, it's a way of life that
isn't any different. I mean there's certain norms which you
go by and that's a part of your life. Actually, Islam is a
way of life. You can't separate it, it just tells you how
to live your life in all spheres relating to all aspects.
ART:21:
Could you give an example?
MOTHER:
Why don't you ask her? (LAUGHS)
SIKANDER:
When I was talking earlier about
childhood memories, there are very distinct memories about
this aspect which was a celebration of religion, if you might
say so. I remember, when we used to fast, it would be such
a celebration. As children we'd be encouraged; my grandparents
would be fasting, and it would be such a joy to get up at
night and have food in the middle of the night, and have food
at the end of the day. And then you did that, you grew up
conditioning yourself to that experience, looking forward
to that month. And it was very normal for me. And even now,
from a distance, when I fast here it gets harder because there's
no particular context,
and you start questioning.
It's interesting how the context is so important for everything.
And then questioning leads to whatever decisions one wants
to make, and mine have been that I still fast. And for that
it's very relevant for my personal strength, which is still
linked to the history of having had that experience from early
childhood until the present. And if that brings a certain
sense of anchoring or nurturing, then maybe that is coming
from this aspect of what we decide is religion or what we
define as religion. You know, there's some discipline there;
it's in the act of fasting and the act of taking that month
out and abstaining yourself from certain aspects of life.
And then it's very, very empowering. But it does not become
an issue because it comes naturally, and coming naturally
because I was conditioned early on in life. And while I was
being conditioned, it was made an enjoyable aspect. And in
the same sense, saying prayers has a sort of significance
for me. It becomes a personal and yet collective sort of experience.
And again, I hold that. I think family is responsible for
that - growing up with grandparents, definitely. I meet people
here who come from very religious families, and they have
a hard time dealing with religion.
I never thought I came from a religious background, and things
I do might be considered religious. But it's so much what
you are comfortable with. For me, I've had a lot of freedom
in understanding Islam, and it gives me strength, and it's
very progressive, and I understand it with that sense. I cannot
relate to any sense of oppression from the religion. And that's
not the general concept,
especially here, which anything and everything associated
with Islam is either terrorism or oppression for women. So
right there, where do you begin? How do you counter that?
What do you say? And I think a lot of it is also because I
went to a convent school, so I grew up understanding Christianity.
As a Muslim, I have to understand Christianity, I have to
understand Judaism. I need to know. And so I grew up as a
kid respecting God and having knowledge. When I come here,
people don't even know the difference between Hindu or Muslim,
for instance. It's like so simplistic and simplified. And,
of course, we live in a place where we are encountering stereotypes,
and we have our own counter-stereotypes. So it's just the
nature of things, how they happen in history. Again, my experiences
of religion is from how it was given to me from my parents
and grandparents.
ART:21:
Do you see any links between
praying and fasting - practicing your religion - and the process
of making art?
SIKANDER:
I think the hard part is when
you're out of practice.
ART:21:
The hard part of what?
SIKANDER:
Oh, the hard part of the lack
of discipline is when I feel less productive. Like, if I am
painting regularly and there is a certain structure and certain
discipline that is being brought into the studio,
my mind works better, I have better ideas. I'm able to accomplish
far more. I'm able to move on to the next stage. But the minute
that discipline leaves the studio, everything gets very scattered.
And even times in life when things have gone to extremes,
I do get back into a certain notion of spirituality
where I need to be by myself, or I need to read, or I will
fast, or I will do things which make sense tome, and which
allow me to come back to that space. So the same way when
I am working large and I paint and I do murals, and the next
thing is I come back to miniature painting. It's just this
whole dichotomy of experience. I do always come back to miniature.
I can hate miniature for a while and I want to move ahead
because it's frustrating, because of all the different reasons
of doing something so labor intensive without much critical
structure, which becomes exotified, and which takes years
to make. So it's like always, "Why do I do this?" And I let
go and do something else, but I always come back to it. And
maybe because by the sheer act of doing it is what gives me
a certain sort of peace.
