Dying Miniature

About

Known for contrasting violent and disturbing imagery with beautifully rendered paintings that create a palpable tension, Zeeshan's new series ‘Dying Miniature' embraces a new twist, formal in its nature. Zeeshan, who has worked most frequently using techniques associated with the Mughal-era miniature, now turns to formal explorations that critique the idea of the miniature as a dying form. As he explains, ‘let me see what I can do with its materials, let me concentrate on one technique out of the many present and work with that, but change my materials, surface and tools.' Swapping the smooth burnished surface of the wasli for the coarse ground of sandpaper, Zeeshan rubs layer upon layer of graphite, alternated with fixative, onto its surface. This meticulous yet vigorous process creates something akin to the anti-miniature - tossing aside its quintessential jewel-like quality, bright and vivid with colour - as Zeeshan pares the miniature down to forms and line