Lot 157: Zarina (b. 1937)

From the series Home is a Foreign Place: Destination, Distance, Journey, Road, Border, Time
Each editioned, titled, signed and dated Zarina '99 at bottom and bearing inscription in Urdu
Woodblock print, edition 12/25
Each image approximately: 16 x 13 in. (40.5 x 33 cm.); framed (6)

Zarina explores the tenuous presence of geographical boundaries in her work. Playing upon their simultaneous ability to divide and unite, the concept of cartographic borders assume an increased significance for the artist considering both her youth in pre-partitioned India and her unique conception of nationality and origin. Her extensive travels through Europe, the Middle East, Latin America and Asia have eroded the distinctions between place, home and location, leading Zarina to call 25 different cities and towns her "home". Influenced by conceptual artists like Lucio Fontana, Yves Klein and Jean Arp as well as the minimal sculpture of Richard Serra, her work employs complex thought processes in producing clean, uncomplicated art. For Zarina, process, medium and concept are as integral to the success of an artwork as the final aesthetic. In these two works (lots 157-158), Zarina demonstrates her skills at print and paper-making, acquired while studying the craft in India, Thailand, Japan, in Paris, at the Atelier 17, and in Germany. Woodcuts (lot 157) have historically found their niche in protest art, particularly in the work of twentieth century German Expressionists and Mexican political artists, where the blunt use of solid black and white successfully convey a frank and unflinching message. Zarina adopts this straightforward medium to depict these inklings of cartography, introducing attributes of Islamic art and architecture with her emphasis on pattern, geometry and inclusion of calligraphic elements. In Traces (lot 158), Zarina gathered natural pigments and cotton rags, hand making the paper herself. Usually the means for artistic expression, the paper, its shape, texture and color, now becomes the end in itself. Speaking about this suite of works in a 1982 interview with Design Magazine, she eloquently states, "I like organic character, it's nobility and strength. I don't shun papermaking as a craft. I embrace it as one."