Shahzia Sikander: Unit 4

Shazhia’s art embodies spiritualism in its purest sense. Her art has many inspiration from Hinduism, and Muslim. This is because the religions are embedded within her Indian culture. For example, she speaks about how she grew up as a Muslim in Pakistan but discovered an interest in Hinduism along the way. This is because Hinduism is a part, and simply seems right. Her paintings take a long amount of time, and lots of staining and ritualistic painting, but it is all worth it. I love her paintings of the veiled Hindu goddesses. She is essentially taking the parts of each religion that interest her most, and fusing them together. This creates a spiritual and empowered woman in my eyes. While, others might see it as controversial, I think it’s brave and beautiful. I also enjoy the fact that she speaks about Muslim culture, and the stigmas it faces. I may not be Muslim, but I am educated in the Muslim culture, and I have many Muslim friends. It pains me that whenever someone mentions Muslim, our society has warped this idea of oppressed women, and terrorist. Many Muslim cultures have normal, kind people, and their daughters are encouraged to go to school and pursue empowering career. We as a American are not all like Hannibal Lecter, and we should not expect Bin Laden to be a representation of a whole group of people.