On This Wondrous Sea, curated by Asma Mahmood, CCAI, Mississauga and Muhammad Zeeshan, KB19
a 50 ft. woodcut installation at VM Gallery, Karachi, Karachi Biennialle 2019

photo credit Karachi Biennale

curated by Asma Mahmood, CCAI, Mississauga and Muhammad Zeeshan, KB19

The title, On This Wondrous Sea, from Emily Dickinson's poem of the same name, refers to life in our world and our leaving it. It is a cautionary tale, taking place

between two disasters and two visions of paradise. This utopian/dystopian split begins with paradise. Overhead, swimmers float, oblivious to both the Eden close at hand and the dangers ahead.

A viewer, however, will see a waterfall, the flooding of a city, and a looming nuclear power plant. The installation attempts to show the interconnected precariousness of our world and what we risk losing

from environmental disaster. Its delicate paper woodcuts embody the wonder, fragility and vulnerability of life on earth.

Thank you to the many lovely people I met in Karachi and those who helped me get there: first Asma Mahmood, Artistic Director, Canadian Community Arts Initiative(CCAI), Mississauga; Muhammad Zeeshan, Chief Curator

Karachi Biennale 2019; Rabia Ali and Noor Ahmed Assistant curators KB19; at the VM Gallery, Ayeshan Aslan, exhibition manager; Sharmeen who cooked delicious vegetarian lunches for me and Karin van Dam( A Dutch particpting artist); my host Zehra Hamdani and her family who I hope to meet again some day and my fellow Canadian travellers, participating artist Lyla Rye and artist John Dickson. This work was partially produced with a 2018 established artist grant from the Ontario Arts Council and travel assistance was provided by CCAI and the Canada Council.