Zarina

Master printmaker and artist, Zarina concentrated the essence of her subject into incredible geometric compositions. Exploring themes of home, memory, borders and spirituality, Zarina translated her ideas into an artistic language that paired striking minimalism with an astute use of her preferred mediums: paper, gold pigment, ink and collage.

The current work, poetically titled Beyond the Stars, shows countless white dots within a vast galaxy. The scattered, gold collage elements illuminate the sky amongst this rich, starry background, perhaps representing a divine presence in the universe. The artist believed gold was imbued with a spiritual, auspicious quality. Reflecting on the influence of noor in her work:

"I have always been attracted to a spiritual life; it makes me humble knowing that there is a greater power guiding me. My recent work dealing with darkness and light is a manifestation of this interest. Noor (divine light) is an age-old concept prevalent in many religious traditions... Sufi mystics believe that your soul is part of noor, and when you come to this earth, it is separated from the divine. All your life the light has abandoned you, and you long to be reunited with your creator."

- Zarina

('The Garden of Dark Roses: Zarina in Conversation with Sandhini Poddar', A. Pesenti (ed.), Zarina: Paper Like Skin, Hammer Museum and DelMonico Books, Prestel 2012, p. 172)

The Urdu inscription in the current lot is from a poem by Iqbal and translates to 'There are other worlds beyond the stars.' The composition is a particularly ethereal example of Zarina's work, and captures the austere beauty of her craft.

Zarina’s unique body of work has gained the artist international recognition. She is represented in major art institutions around the world such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Guggenheim and Museum of Modern Art in New York, Centre Pompidou, Paris, Tate, London, and the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art in New Delhi. Another edition of Beyond the Stars is part of the MoMA collection in New York (1208.2018).