In Ancestor’s Circle (2013), seven gray forms resembling rocks surround a deep red vertical rectangular form, as if praying or involved in some religious ceremony. In Night Walk (2013), a black circle reminiscent of an astrological diagram is suspended above what one might call a face; and in Toward Light (2013), a green teardrop grows toward a yellow circular halo of light. These are works by Fahd Burki (b. 1981, Lahore), produced in collaboration with Edinburgh printmakers in 2013 as part of a project titled “Below another sky,” where invited artists were encouraged to explore the notion of “travel,” both actual and imaginary. In these works, Burki explores the idea of traveling without moving as the flight of mind, while also alluding to the cosmological understanding of travel, implying that we may be at rest in the world but the world is constantly traveling.
The ethereal forms of Ancestor’s Circle, Night Walk, and Toward Light involve an elaborate and laborious process. For “Below another sky,” Burki explores for the first time techniques of screen printing. In order to create the works, flat fields of color with crisp, sharp outlines were first rendered using computer software. These shapes were then printed onto acetate, which in turn were exposed onto prepared screens that were coated with a light-sensitive emulsion, and then hand-printed individually.
Burki’s works seem to come from both an ancient past and a distant future. The frontal, centrally placed compositions characteristic of his works carry an elegant air and presence of religious icons, but also a wit and playfulness that comes through in its geometry. While the precision of his paintings may suggest a digital rendering, they are in fact executed painstakingly by hand by the artist. If the forms in Burki’s works did pertain to any religion, these gods and their allegories may well reside in the digital realm rather than the Earthly climate. SH + MW
self-presentation:
The impulse to make work often stems from a very wide range of interests and experiences for me; in fact, I am inclined to say that every work is a sum of all previous experiences distilled through a particular moment in time. I often find myself thinking about nature and architecture, or about music, which have shaped my practice in more ways than I can describe, but these are never the subject of the work; they simply provide the impulse to start the process.
For me, the act of making work is about slowing down, of emptying the mind to create a space where the ambient environment inspires the mood of the work. Rather than a direct representation of an idea, I am interested in the emotional response evoked by a particular moment or setting.
