Entwined

Sabiha Iqbal

Curated by Mira Hecht

Wednesday, February 26th through Saturday, March 22nd, 2025

The inspiration for my work comes from the world around me, the newspapers, books, poetry I read, images I see. I grew up in an artistically inclined household; my mother Ada Jafarey was a celebrated and much loved poet of Pakistan, whose themes focused on the fusion of feminism with the political world. Poetry was not my genre; I turned to economics and spent a lifetime learning and teaching the principles of economics. It formed the foundation of my thoughts and later influenced my artistic practice. I took art classes at the Corcoran and gradually became fully immersed in art. My work is based on the underlying idea that human beings are connected to each other and to the environment around them. Our actions affect our planet and nature responds in ways that have consequences for our wellbeing. On the canvas, imaginary figures expressing joy and sorrow, hope and fear move in a surreal space. Floral abstractions suggesting movement in water or in the air are another facet of the imagined environment. The emphasis is on gestures, movement and energy. Works on paper and board shift the focus to our real world. The collages made from newspaper clippings and headlines tell the human stories of migration, wars and natural disasters in all parts of the world. Humans suffer and struggle but always look for light. My compositions and choice of palette reflect a mood of hopefulness for a brighter future, a feeling all humans share. Titles for my works mostly come from my mother’s poems.