Finding Identity Within Movements & Moments

Amanda R. Luciano

Zuhal Feraidon, Aparna Sarkar and Jason S. Yi. VIsual Artist Gallery Director - Hawthorn Contemporary

The recent opening of Hawthorne Contemporary Exhibition, Dancing on Myth’s Stage, by artists Zuhal Feraidon and Aparna Sarkar, were bold and beautiful renditions of both movement and special moments. As accomplished and experienced artists in their own right, Feraidon an Sarkar have created a harmonious show of their experiences and the experiences of those that came before them. Both exploring myths, and the ever-evolving parts of themselves further by way of paint.

Zuhal, who immigrated to the US in 2005, was born in Afghanistan and centers this collection on the mythical strength and solidarity of the women of her country. She makes them seen, even through the fabrics they cover themselves with, giving them powerful poses that project resilience. A great example of this is her piece, “Jump”, the subject is in a stance that evokes the dance like nature some forms of martial arts have. This piece showed so much motion within the frame of the story being told with paint.

While each artist showed motion and the depth of a piece in different ways, they used similar color palettes. Feraidon used muted, lightly layered colors to elicit a translucent effect of the fabrics her subjects are wearing as well as a blurring effect to imply movement of the subject. Sarkar used more saturation in her colors, and showed movement by leveraging texture and pattern.

Sarkar’s piece, "Being Held (Thick Night)" (at left), features deep almost jewel tone colors to encompass a moment from her life in a dreamlike way. The way the pattern inspired by traditional Indian clothing is layered through the subjects in a way, almost trailing their movements really made me feel as if I was viewing the memory play out. Sarkar, also varied her use of scale for her subjects while being more abstract about the form and framing of the subjects in her work.

Although they differ in style and approach to painting, they both tell stories of the mythic and the earthly elements of fire, wind, earth and water. It brought to mind stories told from my own foremothers that I know strengthened them into the women I look up to. It reminded me to continue to seek out histories and memories from women willing to share. I really enjoyed viewing this exhibition, it made me feel strong and determined to explore my own identity as I exited the gallery I would highly recommend this collection of works by Zuhal Feraidon and Aparna Sarkar on view at Hawthorne Contemporary in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (closing May 20,2023).