ISLAMABAD: Amina Art Ansari, a British Pakistani artist collaborated with renowned Artist Jamal Shah during the 13-day long Islamabad Art Festival 2019 which was praised by the visitors at Sir Syed Memorial Complex and Pakistan National Council of the Arts.
The ‘Situation 101’ project started from Karachi Biennial in 2017 and Jamal Shah invited Amina in Islamabad to reinvent layout on his sculptural Murghas from February 2018 and it’s been more than a year that these 101 sculptures were developed with layers of paints as well as Mixed Media, transforming them in an extraordinary manner as none imagined.
The thought-provoking from Jamal’s idea of get-ups to Amina’s on ‘how do we rise up with Logic v Emotion and Half Robotic and Half-Human’ concept. She also did workshops with interns and workers of PNCA as part of Art Therapy and the use of techniques applied. Some of these faces are marked on Murghas as part of community contribution and reflections. The multi-cultural of the white part in Pakistan flag as well as the portrayal of past and future warriors. The psychology she portrays from her struggles to achievements in an educational, clever and playful manner as herself. She is powerful as well as a life story.
She was born in London, studied at Central Saint Martins, London College of Printing and National College of Arts in Lahore, Pakistan. Amina Ansari has held many exhibitions in Britain. Talking to APP, she said that her artwork was also placed at Windsor Castle’s collection to mark the Diamond Jubilee and received an acknowledgement from her Majesty, The Queen in July 2012. “The ‘Paintings of Tribute’ by Amina, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and His Highness Prince Phillip were received by the Buckingham Palace on Monday 9th July 2012,” she said.
Amina’s aim is to bridge the gap between deprived kids and transform them with positivist, via Art Therapy, as for the last two years, she has been conducting workshops for women and deprived individuals at Pakistan National Council of the Arts and workshops in Bani Gala organized by Arcade. BBC London covered the ‘Health and Well-being’ concept over this so-called Art Therapy, and growth to bridge gaps in humanity, including health benefits on mental health.
The bottom line, the aim is to achieve creative minds, brain development, and a better future. Amina helped women’s depression as she helped a lot of refugees in the UK and local housewives to come out of their shells.
Amina represented Pakistan and exhibited at Asia Triennial Manchester in October 2018, where she collaborated with renowned writer Anjum Malik at practical workshops, on portraying female immigrants and their experiences through live digital Art on iPad by using her fingertips on screen and it was filmed.
Amina said that in her work, “I deconstruct the global dream, seasoning, music & dance, ideology, my reality, social justice and my writings that are part of our childhood and adult culture in a striving manner to vivid imagination from the Artist’s perception”.
Amina Ansari said that the uses of oils paint application are mind game to understand the dimensions from one skin to another in thickness and therefore become a puzzle to understand the expression shown in a loud mode, rather than predictable copy-like subjects that are no indication of language of art in terms of colors and movements in today’s modern era.”
It is evident that Amina is certainly not only an Artist, as her Art Therapy talks and workshops make differences in people’s lives; she is certainly a spiritual provocateur to meet ends across the globe with her iconic fashion senses as she is also a fashion designer through her scientific colors. There is always much more to meet her surprises and to see her next missionary traits.