Dear Ambreen Butt...
Persian Miniature Goes Political, and it's Perfect
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 41 seconds. Contains 739 words
Dear Ambreen,
Thank you for taking a skill so intricate, floral, and even hinting the feminine, and then packing the ultimate punch. There are many creative ways to shake up your audience and take full control of the unexpected. You’ve done that, times a million.
I only recently re-discovered Ambreen Butt after looking through my collection of exhibition postcards from my college days, but seeing her show card was very much like running into an old friend. I first encountered her work on a pretty typical south end gallery tour of Boston with my senior art research class. Her wall installation piece, I am All What is Left of Me was on display at the Carroll and Sons gallery in 2015, and I was instantly captivated by the intricate designs and bold use of opaque color. What these decorative pieces were composed of, however, is what caught my breath. As quoted from Arts and Culture Texas:
“Butt utilizes the visual language of miniature paintings even in her large-scale works. From a distance, her mosaics, rugs, and decorative wall pieces are radiant configurations and appear to be designed with rose petals. But these installations are made with resin casts of fingers, toes, locks and chains, begging a closer personal inspection that might cause viewers to consider their bodies in different contexts. “ - artsandculturetx.com
For the last 25 years, the Pakistan-born artist has lived and worked in the United States, utilizing her training in Indian and Persian miniature painting to create her intricate works. The history of miniature paintings dates back centuries, reaching a peak in Persia between the 13th and 16th century.1 The purpose of miniatures was sequential in nature, to illustrate religious of mythological stories. They were (and still very much are!) done utilizing anything and everything small; small brushes, small brush strokes, small details. Because of their more portable nature, they were perfect for illuminated manuscripts. Professionals in miniature painting also had (and still have!) the ability to start small, and slowly build up bigger and bigger compositions until the intricate designs and stories take over an entire space.
What is Left of Me is a miniature painting-influenced project, among others in Butt’s portfolio, that serves as a meditation on violence and oppression, both global and personal.2 It’s difficult not to be completely captivated by the decorative arts of West and South Asia, but Butt’s capability of adding another distinct layer of political awareness to the work is truly a stand-out. I am All What is Left of Me is a companion piece of sorts to a larger commissioned work for the US Embassy Islamabad. On this particular commission, Butt shares:
“This project is inspired by my recent investigations of the tradition of classical Arabic language and its visual formation. The meditative process of repetitive recitation of the selective classical text from the Qur’an, also known as ‘dhikar’ or ‘zikar’, and its physical manifestation through stylized mark-making in the form of calligraphy (khattati), became some of the points of origin for this work….This apparently recognizable reference to the traditions of Islamic calligraphy and arabesques hopes to provide the local viewers a context that is known and comforting, as well as reverential. The work creates a dialogue between the rich visual traditions embedded in Pakistani culture and contemporary art practice through both convergence and divergence.” -art.state.gov/personnel/ambreen_butt/
I’ve always had a soft spot for Islamic motifs in contemporary art, partially for my Levant background, partially for the absolute splendor on both an aesthetic and spiritual level that they provide. Ambreen Butt has truly managed to capture a balance of both beauty and awareness in a dance that not many can easily achieve. I consider it in absolute privilege that I was able to come within inches of this work, and see the resin locks myself.
As of writing this, Butt currently has a solo exhibition which can be seen both in person and virtually on instagram via instagram.com/uta.aah until April 3rd. She’s hinting at a fresh new project, Live and Let Live, on her own social media accounts, but we’ll just have to be patient!
-Sasha
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