Sculptures and drawings continued to enquire human life, exploring the effects of historic and geographical inheritances, and of contemporary political developments, through the manipulation of new materials and techniques by Saud Baloch in a solo exhibition titled "Fool's Gold" at Sanat Gallery, Karachi.
Some of the most effective works were drawings in black and white done in archival ink on paper, which revealed fineness of line while the sculptures in gold tones have been done in such a way that they retained the fullness of the gold pigment.
Drawings titled "Gumnaam" and "Nishan" series were done in detail showing the human anatomy symbolically as all humans are equal and has the same physical and mental abilities but the circumstances and society put them in various classes.
He transformed the ordinary stones in the work of art by portraying harsh realities in a subtle way. The grey scale photos on gold colour stones depicted the old golden days that has now become past reality devoid of colours. This was a series of seven art pieces titled "Poshida" produces by using photo transfer on gold painted variable show images of people - men, women, and children, young and old representing indigenous humans showing different social behaviours.
The artworks both drawings and sculptures interacted with each other as well as with their surroundings. The artworks were designed to absorb and provoke the viewer's attention as they interact with the display. Beyond the visual delight of these works of art, all of the sculptures and drawings in the exhibition were intended to foster an emotional engagement with the viewers.
The sculptures offered a variety of techniques, forms, materials and approaches. He seemed to be much interested in investigating the impact of physical and metaphorical burdens on the human form. There was miniature mud houses suspended in the air with golden balloon titled "Udaan". The houses were empty portraying the historical village.
The golden balloon was like the golden sun which is far away in the sky for the pre-historic people who see sun as the source of energy and power that brought light in the form of day for them and sunlight to warm them in winter and also ripen the crops and fruits their main source of staple food. Hence on one hand they wanted to reach the sun to meet that giant gold ball on the other hand they worship it in ancient civilizations.
The miniature mud houses were dull and colourless devoid of life as if they had been dug from the grave where they had been hidden from the outer world for many centuries. Saud grew up in Nushki and studied Fine Arts at Balochistan University. Majoring in sculpture he graduated with distinction in 2013 from the National College of Arts (NCA), Lahore. After graduating, Saud taught Sculpture at NCA, Lahore. (The writer can be reached at [email protected])
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