Fascinated by Persian carpets Raza Bukhari explored the mystical concepts and mystic images in a less familiar way by using carpet style weaving impressions in his artworks in a solo show titled “Flying with Stones” at Full Circle Gallery, Karachi.

He decorated his works like a carpet. His works were interpretation of his deepest thoughts and strongest desires including love and violence as images for him are equal to feelings. Things that can’t be expressed in words images say it all. He depicted how the lives of people were divided between cultures and their desires.

There were glimpses of hardships endured by people at various times in different regions of the world. The vague and unfinished motifs depicted the changing traditions and lack of clarity regarding life.

The paintings contained all the experiences past and present, passion, skill, control and an attempt to capture the fleeting moment in time. He glorified common decorative motifs and images that became part of our lives through the many years we live.

In some of the paintings he depicted current concerns, anxieties, aspirations, personalities, and movements in an evocative and alluring manner.

He has been able to stir uneasiness among other feelings, when viewers see his paintings. Every artwork has a story to tell through its multiple layers about a group of people belonging to a distinct segment of society. He also explored the cultural icons with the tragedy that was associated with them.

The works represented many characters that were complex but by using significant symbolic expressions he told a story that was personal to him but was equally rich and flexible so as to lend itself to the lens and individual interpretations of each viewer.

Paintings were incorporated with the glimpses of carpets in the background and in a few works on the figures in subtle colours with giving a different look to the images.

He attempted to penetrate beyond the visible and then transformed his feelings into images an attempt to show the feelings that hid behind the forms that is the invisible behind the visible.

His works were basically a composition of mixed metaphors, disconnected random feelings of both related and unrelated images that come across him.

The themes of his works revolved around personal narratives based on ever changing elements taken from everyday life and questions relating to space, place and identity.

—Nadeem Zuberi