Originally from Lahore and now living in Muscat (via London), Sara Khan and I discussed her latest work and how the Covid-19 pandemic affects her art practice.
How has the pandemic impacted your creative ideas?
The global nature of the pandemic made me think about the circular shape of our earth and by extension, of the sun and the moon. I became interested in exploring the idea of imagining these cosmic bodies as a single sphere, a collective ‘Great Circle’. Incidentally in July, the alignment of these three great orbs in the Annular solar eclipse caught my attention. I began to think about mythology and space in relation to natural phenomena. A circle can embrace and enclose, encompass and encase. If one stepped inside a ‘Great Circle’ containing opposing phenomenal conditions and patterns, what might the balancing point look like? Within the ‘Great Circle’, I wondered about exploring natural phenomena and the mid-point, for example between ebb and flow or stillness and speed.
How did these thoughts translate into work in 2020?
Mostly paintings — these works that you see here have mainly been a response to the situation I have found myself in, for example, the idea of Substrate — what nourishes an organism? This year, this concept truly resonated while I, like many others, looked for emotional sustenance, working with limited materials at the time. Also the concept of Composite: My father passed away a few months ago; I am currently completing the last of a series which is about how much of my parents makes up me?
What else have you focused on this year and have you been creative?
Like many artists, the cancellation and postponement of exhibitions has been a sad reality.
In early lockdown, I organised a community exhibition called ‘Art on Our Doorstep’ for kids and adults — kids had been busy producing work at home and this gave them the chance to show it.
I also participated in some online exhibitions, currently a group show at the Matti Sirvio Gallery in Muscat. I was really impressed by the group who organised ‘Artists for Flood Relief’ in Karachi and the e-exhibitions team in Lahore. I spent a lot of time listening to talks and reading. In addition, I co-authored two IB educational books on ethical design.
Words and stories have played a part in inspiring your work practice. Have you read any
inspiring books recently?
I really enjoyed these books: Underland: A Deep Time Journey by Robert Macfarlane, Doughnut Economics by Kate Raworth, The Good Ancestor by Roman Kzarnic and various writings by Rebecca Solnit who has been writing for years about the social implications of disasters.
And your top achievement for 2020 has been the publication of your own books. Tell us more.
I taught MYP Design at an IB school for many years with my colleague Meredith Harbord. We are now working as educational consultants and have recently published two IB interdisciplinary resources on ethical design, Interdisciplinary Thinking for Schools: Ethical Dilemmas MYP 1, 2 & 3 and Interdisciplinary Thinking for Schools: Ethical Dilemmas MYP 4 &5. These are user-friendly, interdisciplinary guides for teaching and learning for Grades 6 to 10 in the IB system. As well as my visual art practice, it has been very rewarding to be an educator, we have some exciting curriculum projects lined up in the US and Australia!
Sara Riaz Khan’s solo exhibition titled ‘Inner and Outer Worlds’ opens at the Art & Soul Gallery, The Waterfront, in Muscat, Oman on December 6, 2020.
