We are delighted to present Batin – Saubiya Chasmawala’s second solo exhibition in Mumbai, and her first at TARQ, following her 2017 show Pilgrimage of Historical Oversights at Clark House. In this exhibition, Chasmawala works to further develop her engagement with Arabic script, pushing the boundaries of abstraction. In her paintings of ink and natural dyes, Chasmawala layers characters to obscure the rigidity of their form, moving away further away from her older, representational works.
Bātin literally means "inner" and in this context, is connected deeply to the artist’s relationship to her practice. Her newest works are born out of a desire to demystify, to unveil, and are the results of an intuitive, introspective, almost meditative mark making process. The artwork is undoubtedly and almost inextricably tied to Chasmawala’s sense of self, history, and identity and their creation is a therapeutic, almost cathartic process for her, and an opportunity to move away from a sense of conflict and duality.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a catalogue featuring an essay by Skye Arundhati Thomas, which delves into Chasmawala’s unique approach to abstraction, form and texture.
