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Farah Syed

Place of birth Pakistan
Country of residence United Kingdom

Statement

My paintings are inspired by the variety of naturally occurring patterns and depict the incessant transformation and volatility of biological processes.

Although scientific material is often the source, I do not seek to faithfully emulate or illustrate scientific concepts but am interested in exploring their visual and metaphorical qualities.

a minute, random incident disrupts established patterns, bringing about sudden irregularities and introduces complexity

a swarm reassembles after a disturbance in its path

Occupying a space between abstraction and figuration, the paintings are built up slowly through a process of layering. Imagery suggesting biological structures is superimposed on a ground which remains abstract and unidentified: Detailed formations, perhaps a veil of dots or a cluster of cells drift across accentuating the foreground.

The use of oils allows for a rich manipulation of the colours, and enforces a discipline in keeping with the theme of the painting: a gradual revelation, an inconspicuous metamorphosis, a restlessness.

In allowing for variable readings, the paintings seek to draw the viewer into an enquiry about the nature of the fleeting and the lasting, the simple and the complex, the singular and the swarm.

(2008)

Born in Pakistan, I graduated from Hochschule der Kuenste in Berlin with a Meisterschueler in Painting (1997). Since then I have been living and working in London and Spain.

Exhibitions Start Your Collection 2008!, 01.Aug - 20.Sep.08, Contemporary Art Projects, 00' Nature Part 2, 15.May - 14.Jun.08, Contemporary Art Projects, Start Your Collection 2007!, 01.Aug - 30.Sep.07, Contemporary Art Projects, Summer exhibition 2006, 17.Aug - 03.Sep.06, Contemporary Art Projects, Swarms, 20.Apr - 14.May.06, Contemporary Art Projects

Links Contemporary Art Projects


www.farahsyed.net

 

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