Dua Abbas Rizvi

Your Echo Through A Membrane

36" x 36"

Canvas Print

$750

Having grown up in a predominantly patriarchal society, I have been repeatedly exposed to gender inequality in interpersonal relationships. Womanhood and acquiescence are almost dogmatically believed to be intertwined, and a woman’s need to be heard, to be loved, and to be accepted intrinsically is largely neglected. As a result, women cultivate expansive inner worlds to house their truest selves while their physical selves shrink a little every day. To me, then, the gift of companionship is acceptance without the desire to control or curtail. True companionship should broker no tricks and transactions; it should reach through protective or discriminatory barriers with the assurance of presence. It should be a place of safety, where both parties are connected in empathy, even across periods of silence and physical distance.

Dua Abbas Rizvi (b. 1987) is a visual artist, illustrator, and art journalist based in Lahore, Pakistan. She graduated from the National College of Arts (Lahore) in 2010 with awards for excellence. Her artwork has been part of several exhibitions including Stations of the Cross (New York) and Art for Education: Contemporary Artists from Pakistan (Milan). Rizvi's largely figurative practice explores womanhood through personal and familial archives, rooted in regional history and folklore. It is inspired, too, by embodied rituals of faith and remembrance. During the first lockdown in 2020, Rizvi found herself spending more time in her home-studio working freehand with paper. The act of cutting brightly-coloured, hand-painting paper into large, comforting shapes Brough her immense relief from anxiety. For this exhibition, she decided to continue her intuitive, uninhibited dragon with scissors to create images of hope and loss reminiscent of picture-book illustrations.