Moving between abstraction and figuration and free forms, Rene Saheb’s dense and Multicolored paintings, hint at her subconscious. A release, a journey through a primal valley, where her inner self is unfolded and Knowledge is sought and found.
She works intuitively using expressive brush strokes and vibrant color. These organic and nature-inspired paintings resemble botanical studies, of a world that is lush with flowing fields of color punctuated by looping floral and biomorphic forms. They feel ancient in the sense that they look like the beginning of the natural world. She continues to use the language of metaphor and brings in daily incidents or concerns, usually satirical Proverbs of our rich language find a place in the paintings.
Using different mediums she inserts delicate lines in fields of color in these invented landscapes of her. A dreamy land where birds are set free and the flowers and Fiona grow and are allowed to reach their bloom. Her Raw geological formations, and landscapes oscillate between harmony and tension, perhaps mystical but at the same time naturalistic.
The sculptural pieces, are all made using broken utensils that were thrown away in a pottery class that artist had attended, are the other part of this exhibition. Many of these pieces were discarded for a simple crack or minor fault. This is an act of recovery; to sooth the pain of abandonment. She brings these pieces of earth back to life, back to cycle of life. A resurrection that was inspired by The Conference of the Birds, of Farid Oddin Attar Neishabouri, the story of birds that set out on the path of discovery, many of them failing to reach their destination. And here are the ones that Failed.
A story of our land, of many lands, of a people who set out to capture their dreams and fail and in this failure another story takes shape, stories of pride despite failure, of gaining knowledge but perishing in the struggle. Stories that can only be told by artists like Rene Saheb, who understand earth and embrace many layers of life.
Nazila Noebashari
