Life's canvas
'Fauzia's visual imagery centres on large areas of murky shadows illuminated by panels of glowing light, much like light flooding through a door or window in a darkened room.
She carves out these areas from within the wooden painting boards to create a 3-D effect and then paints them in whites and yellows. Establishing her concept of light and dark, or life and death, the artist stages her main performance in the luminous spaces. Her themes centre around home, family and togetherness, with allusive references to politics and the world situation.
Minallah adopts a soft edged humane stance. Mixed media effects of brushwork, carving, engraving and tattooing are peculiar to her work. She derives inspiration from ancient Gandhara carvings as well as slate engravings or chitarkari found on slate tombs in the cemeteries of her home town in the Gangar mountain region of the NWFP.
Salwat Ali , art critic Dawn Gallery November 2004.
